A request for the urgent intervention in the state of affairs of the Matjhabeng Local Municipality’s service delivery will now be made to the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Saki Mokoena.
Cllr René Steyn, DA councillor for ward 32, says she will be writing to Mokoena about this.
Steyn says residents report day after day that water flows unattended, with sewage backing up into homes and streets, and crime that thrives as municipal infrastructure is vandalised and left unattended.
“Communities are suffering, yet there is still silence from those entrusted to serve. While residents are relentlessly pressured to pay for services, there is no sign of reciprocity.
“The very people who fund the system are being let down by it. This is not just an administrative failure, but rather an administrative neglect.”
– René Steyn
“The very people who fund the system are being let down by it. This is not just an administrative failure, but rather an administrative neglect. Officials ignore emails, calls and formal reports. Is this the standard of care we should now accept in Matjhabeng?
“We are witnessing the final stages of collapse. The municipality has become a revolving door of empty meetings, recycled excuses, and no results,” says Steyn.
Regardless of the forum or platform, the outcome remains the same, she says. Promises of service delivery are made a matter of routine, but they often do not reach those who keep the system running.
“The few who still pay are exploited, their contributions lost in a cycle of mismanagement and political prioritisation.”
Residents in parts of this ward have now been without water for up to four days.
“Dozens upon dozens of leaks are not being repaired. Electrical infrastructure is being vandalised and stripped. Officials disappear, and departments remain unreachable.”
– René Steyn
“Dozens upon dozens of leaks are not being repaired. Electrical infrastructure is being vandalised and stripped. Officials disappear, and departments remain unreachable.”
The ANC-led government has completely dismantled the foundations of responsible local governance in Matjhabeng, she adds.
“This municipality is being pushed to the brink of no return, all while those in power advance their interests at the expense of the public they were elected to represent.
“We will continue to expose this systemic rot, every failure and every evasion. We will not allow silence to replace accountability,” says Steyn.
