The Matjhabeng Local Municipality has transformed into a service delivery nightmare for its residents.
“Initially, the delays in services were merely an inconvenience for residents, stemming from either the lack of services or poorly executed efforts by officials,” says Councillor Igor Scheurogel.
“However, due to the municipality’s poor financial management and the executive leadership’s political grandstanding, residents now find themselves in a life-threatening situation, with the administration in absolute dismay.”
Scheurkogel says that on Thursday last week (30 November), Odendaalsrus experienced electricity interruptions caused by a cable that burned due to crumbling infrastructure resulting from the lack of regular maintenance.
“Residents of De Kock and Van Der Walt Streets in Odendaalsrus had to endure a three day wait for their electricity to be restored, as the only functional cherry picker had to be brought in from Ventersburg. Unfortunately, some residents still faced outages,” he says.
To add to residents’ dismay, a massive trench across De Kock Street was left open. There were no markings warning residents of the pending danger.
“Reports from residents indicated that the trench posed a danger to road users and learners of Odensia Primary School, situated right next to it. The municipality neglected to close the trench or install any warning signs to alert people of it.
“Due to poor visibility due to the lack of streetlights the danger element increased. This has resulted in at least one vehicle accident,” says Scheurkogel.
He says despite repeated warnings during council sittings, both the executive Mayor and Municipal Manager have overlooked the financial crisis and overall disarray within the municipality. “The situation has now escalated to the point where residents’ lives are endangered due to the municipality’s inability to perform essential tasks for service delivery.”
