Chatsworth residents demand better service
WARD 73 is one of five municipal wards that will hold by-elections on Wednesday.
The Chatsworth ward will be contested by Devaraj “Ronnie” Pillay of the ANC, Daniel Mea of the DA, and Ravanasithan Pillay of the EFF. It includes the areas of Croftdene, Arena Park and Montford.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the ward that was previously represented by Devaraj Pillay (DA), became vacant as a result of the councillor’s resignation. Pillay has since joined the ANC. The IEC also said the voter turnout for this ward in the 2021 Municipal Elections was 49.10%.
The ward has become heavily contested, with the ANC and DA sending national delegates to campaign in the area.
The ANC in the province sent in a team to look at infrastructure in the area.
Cyril Ramaphosa, in his capacity as the ANC president, visited the ward two weeks ago.
The ANC also recently welcomed more than 200 former DA members.
John Steenhuisen, Federal leader of the DA, said the alleged former DA members were unknown to the party. He claimed that besides Ronnie Pillay, the ANC had made up the other members.
Steenhuisen, who visited Chatsworth on Saturday, described the significance of the ward to the party.
“I regard every ward of the country as important. In this ward, we had someone who turned tail and ran to join another party. We want to send a clear message to him that he can go but he cannot take our votes with him.”
Steenhuisen said the biggest issue currently facing Indian South Africans was the amendments to the Employment Equity Act (EEA), which set racial targets for companies in various industries.
“The law, which Cyril Ramaphosa signed a few weeks ago, applies to any workplace with more than 50 employees. It sets quotas for every workplace, in every economic sector, in every province, throughout this entire country.
“Businesses can be fined up to 10% of their annual turnover. And they will be cut-off from all government business.
“Right here in KZN, the ANC wants to limit the share of Indian people working in skilled positions at every company in the retail industry in this province to 3.6% for men and 3.1% for women.
“If we let this law stand, every business in Chatsworth can be driven into bankruptcy through fines and punishment from the government. Thousands of men and women in this community will lose their jobs.
“Children who are currently studying to become skilled professionals will be doomed to unemployment because they have the ‘wrong’ skin colour. Even more of our children will emigrate and skills will flee the country.”
Steenhuisen said the DA was still in the process of drafting papers for its Constitutional Court challenge against the EEA.
Lubna Nadvi, a political analyst from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said: “Chatsworth is primarily an Indian residential area and is an important site to contest for what is considered the Indian minority vote.
“Wards in Chatsworth have historically swung between the ANC, DA and Minority Front (MF) but in more recent times the contest has been largely between the ANC and DA to win votes.
“It is heavily contested because greater support from this area can give either the ANC or DA a much stronger win in KZN.”
She said voter turnout was dependent on whether the residents feel that they are getting value for the vote they cast through being provided with proper service delivery.
“If their areas are not being serviced properly, they may choose to not vote in subsequent elections and become apathetic or just boycott elections. This is often the case in many areas where voter turnout is low.”
Nadvi said voters needed to see campaign promises being acted upon and fulfilled.
“For almost three decades, they have been seeing growing corruption in government and increasing decay of the country's infrastructure. This state of affairs does not instil confidence in the electorate. Corruption and decay have to be addressed and eliminated.
“It might take a major change in terms of who gets voted into office as government and a long enough period of time to see substantial changes taking place before voters will have faith in the processes and outcomes of the electoral system.”
Meanwhile, residents say they want service delivery and that their issues should be resolved regardless of the political party that wins the ward.
Residents living on Montdene Drive in Chatsworth have to put up with overflowing storm water and sewage whenever there are heavy rains. They say this has been going on for years.
Charles Stephens said his road had suffered flooding due to the storm water system. “Whenever it rains heavily, water from both sides of the road falls into these storm water pipes.
“However, we always have to open up the lids to allow it to flow because there’s too much pressure.
“The municipality has spoken about the possibility of building another storm water pipe but nothing has come of it yet.”
Stephens said residents were disillusioned. “We want to see things being done on the ground. We don’t care
about what’s happening between politicians in boardrooms.
“If that does not directly have a positive impact on our lives, it means nothing.
“It shouldn’t matter what party is in charge of a particular constituency, services should be rendered to all.
“If it did matter, that would be problematic for people who put their vote for a certain party. Our leaders can’t only be looking after their own. Everyone should be cared for equally.”
He said whoever took over the ward should be competent. “We just need someone who knows what they’re doing. Someone who will work hand in hand with the municipality to bring about the change we need as residents.”
Cynthia Singh, 57, spoke to POST last year about a sewage crisis she was experiencing. To date, she said nothing had been done.
“We have been living here for 16 years but this issue has been ongoing for more than 40 years. I am on the brink of giving up because the municipality
does nothing to address the challenges we are facing.”
Singh said she would exercise her right to vote but did not say who she would vote for. She said service delivery must be for all.
Mallie Moonsamy said her house was severely flooded during last year’s April floods.
“After the flooding, many of my appliances stopped working, including my stove. Now I have to use a two-plate stove. We also built a shed that is on a higher level than the house. This is where I’ve put my washing machine and freezer. If ever it rains again and the house gets flooded, at least these will be unaffected.”
Selvan Moodley is the Public Relations Officer for the Chatsworth and District Civic Federation, the mother body which encompasses the ratepayers association in the area.
He said the municipality needed to come on board with providing service delivery, regardless of the party in charge.