6 days ago
Ons is gatvol!
VANDERBIJLPARK – Dozens of residents in Vanderbijlpark protested on May 29, following the collapse of service delivery and against the smart meter installation in areas such as Bedworth Park.
Singing and chanting struggle songs, both black and white, carried placards to demonstrate their anguish against the Emfuleni Local Municipality.
Starting the peaceful march from the Checkers parking lot in Vanderbijlpark CBD, the march slowly moved through the civic centre, disrupting traffic in an attempt to make a significant point.
Carrying placards written 'To hell with your BXC smart meters, stop stealing, enough is enough,' among many others.
According to a community leader and chairperson of Bedworth Park Residents Association, Abraham Motau, they handed their memorandum of grievances three weeks ago to the offices of the mayor, municipal manager, and the speaker.
However, when they arrived at ELM's headquarters, the mayor said he had not received their memorandum.
Speaking to Ster South on the sidelines of the march, Motau detailed their stances and what they expected from the municipality.
'August last year, we sent a petition to the municipality about smart meters. We were raising grievances that the municipality can't replace working or effective smart meters because they want to bring something different.
Municipalities Systems Act is clear that before the municipality can take any decision where there is an intention, they must get the views of the community. We were not consulted, hence, we want the municipality to stop with the smart meters,' he said.
Motau said smart meters are not their only headache.
'Services have collapsed. We go months without refuse collection, pothole-riddled streets, nonworking street lights, continuing electricity interruption, and bad sewer smell.
These are issues affecting the community daily, hence the march,' he said. While municipal officials such as MMC of Public Works, Tumi Mochawe, tried to engage the angry group, their demand was clear: that it had to be addressed by the mayor, municipal manager, and the speaker.
After half an hour, Mayor Sipho Radebe attended to the demonstrators, but he remained blank on the memorandum. 'I haven't seen that memorandum. I'm going to look for that memorandum, and after I go through it and will give responses,' he said.
Responding to the mayor's disappointing message, Belinda Kriel, a resident and real estate agent, said, 'You can't tell us to come another day to get responses for our grievances. People left their jobs, some are sick, yet they are here. We are here for the responses since you received a memorandum.'
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