Poor service delivery a living hell for Emfuleni residents
Potholes, refuse and sewage top of complaints list
Residents of Emfuleni have laid bare the problems they face because of years of poor service delivery which has severely affected their lives.
Sowetan visited the troubled municipality in the south of Gauteng on Tuesday – the day of one of the province’s heaviest rains this spring. Potholes, sewage and burst pipes were everywhere in the streets.
Outside Sarah Molotsi’s home in Sebokeng Zone 12, water was gushing. Molotsi had to build a concrete structure which prevents the water from getting into her yard. Her other nightmare is the piling refuse that is lying uncollected by the municipality.
“I run a crèche here. I have little ones who wear nappies. It is very difficult for me when refuse is not collected every week. I don’t know where to take my garbage every day. I cannot dump it at the open veld because of the nappies.”
Mthuthuzeli Xaba of Tshepiso Phase 3 in Sharpeville also complained about refuse collection. “They hardly ever collect refuse… It has reached a point where I do not know what the duty of the municipality is because they hardly do a thing.”
A taxi driver in the area, who asked not to be named, said potholes are a permanent feature. He said every two months the vehicle owner has to change a tyre because of potholes. Replacing one tyre on a Toyota Quantum costs R1,200.
“It is killing us because the money spent on the tyre is the same money that is supposed to go to your salary,” he said.
Jabulani Skalika of Tshepiso Phase 3 said his family has had a hard time because of the sewage flowing right next to the house. “Some years back as residents we installed the pipe that you see so that the sewage water can go straight into the stormwater system and not flow into the yard. The sewage is causing a mess and a bad smell outside. It is unbearable. When it is hot, the smell is really bad,” Skalika said.
Seipati Molefe of Sharpeville complained about the sewage system which runs into her yard when it rains. “It is really a serious problem for us because the smell after the rain becomes unbearable.
“The municipality also does not come to collect refuse. People simply dump their garbage in available open veld.”
Her neighbour Lindiwe Buthelezi lamented the unplanned power outages which fall outside Eskom’s loadshedding schedule. “When we go for days without electricity we really suffer. Food rots in our fridges and businesses in the community are failing. My sister used to sell kotas; she had to shut down her business because her entire stock rotted in the fridge because of power outages. Now she has no means of survival.”