Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
ANC faces the ire of residents ahead of polls
‘Non-existent’ councillors blamed
LACK OF service delivery, crime and absent councillors appear to be among the most common complaints voiced by Khayelitsha residents.
Following the disruption of both voter registration weekends, Weekend Argus visited troubled areas concerned in a bid to better understand why residents were at loggerheads with their councillors.
During the first voter registration weekend last month, media reported that angry Kuyasa residents had blocked entry to the voting stations with burning tyres. The people also reportedly vowed to keep the stations closed.
When questioned this week on the issue, residents of Kuyasa (ward 95) said they had blocked registration because they refused to be incorporated into Makhaza (ward 97). They complained that such a move “would only serve to further frustrate us as service delivery will go from bad to nonexistent”.
Sanco executive member and Kuyasa community leader Lungisani Mani there had been no developments in their area during the five-year tenure of councillor Mpucuko Nguzo.
“There is no development in Kuyasa, the area is filthy and crime is an ever- increasing social ill,” he said. “We have been complaining to the ANC regional structures about this, but to no avail.”
Mani also claimed that they hadn’t got the candidate for whom they voted.
“The candidate we want is from the area and was voted for by residents. But at the last minute we heard someone who had been lagging far behind him would be the candidate, as voted for by seven people.
“We will not accept that seven people can veto the decision of thousands of people,” he said. Andile Lili and ANC national executive committee member Nomaindia Mfeketo visited Kuyasa in a bid to restore calm. Lili told Weekend Argus they would return to the people in two weeks to help address their issues.
Mani said: “Should the executive not return with what we want, then we will continue protesting and we cannot guarantee what may or may not happen, but we are willing to go to jail over this. We will fight.”
Meanwhile, residents of Khayelitsha ward 18, Tembokwezi, are complaining their c o u n c i l l o r, Nt o mboxo l o Kopman, has failed to provide services in the area.
They called her “non-existent”, with community leaders complaining of a lack of sports and recreation facilities, no library and no response to appeals for street lights and a satellite police station.
They said the area was crime-ridden and unless the councillor rose to the challenge, the community leaders threatened to “take over”.
“Because our councillor is not available to the people and has no valuable input in the development of the area, we have decided to do it for ourselves,” they said.
Jacobs said the ANC was aware of the residents’ issues and promised that if they were unhappy with candidates, “they will be withdrawn”.
Community leader Kholek- ile Mwahla countered that they had complained several times to Jacobs about their “incompetent councillor”, but no one got back to them.
“We are now hoping that they revert to us before the upcoming elections, otherwise we will have to let people decide for themselves on what to do.”
He said Tembokwezi had identified several people “as potential candidates”.
“We need people who understand the severity of issues on the ground,” Mwahla said.
Asked to comment, Kopman disputed not providing services to the community, saying that since her tenure she had ensured play parks were built in Tembokwezi. She had never been called in by the ANC executive to discuss any grievances levelled against her.
Nguzo could not be reached for comment.
But Mwahla and Mani were adamant their councillors had failed to deliver on their mandates and lacked understanding of the areas they were supposed to be servicing.
If the situation continued, the communities would simply refuse to vote in the upcoming election, they warned.
asanda.sokanyile@inl.co.za
‘We will continue