‘No services if residents don’t pay for it’
Refusing to pay for services delays the municipality’s efforts to ensure maximised service delivery.
Polokwane Mayor, John Mpe used his State of the City address to warn residents who refuse to pay for metered water and who illegally connect electricity, that they will not receive proper services, if at all.
The address was delivered at the Jack Botes hall on June 24.
“Refusing to pay for services such as water and electricity delays the municipality’s efforts to ensure maximised service delivery. As new council, we have introduced the Rapid Response Public Participation programme whereby the municipality no longer provides lip service to issues as we want to be become more problem-solving orientated. We take action on site and immediately resolve our people’s issues and challenges.”
On the topic of water and finance management, Mpe acknowledged that the municipality hasn’t performed to an ideal level, but added that optimal participation shown by communities in the municipality’s IDP consultative meetings gave the impression that people are willing to give government ideas on how to best provide services.
“During our consultations with communities and various stakeholders, the people confirmed that a lot still needs to be done to ensure proper financial management and good governance, build better roads, deliver clean and reliable water supply, provide proper sanitation and housing, create opportunities for jobs and grow the city’s economy. These are our priorities for the next five years.”
He reiterated, however, that this can only be done if residents pay for services.
“Through the recent accreditation to build RDP houses, the municipality has been empowered by national government to provide proper housing to those in need thereby complementing the work of provincial and national departments of human settlements,” he added.
Mpe discouraged the mushrooming of unplanned settlements, saying this delays municipal plans to develop land for residential or other developmental functions, referring to the recent demolishing of illegal structures in extensions 126 and 127 in Seshego.
In an effort to address the challenge of poor road challenges, he said the municipality has decided to purchase the required machinery and pave the roads as a municipality as opposed to tendering the services.
Mpe announced that the municipality has adopted a total budget of R5.1b for the 2022/23 financial year, in which infrastructure was mostly prioritised to ensure basic services can be delivered.
Council will debate the State of the City Address today (Thursday), when representatives of the various political parties are expected to voice their views.