Latest news with #Ramabitsa
The Citizen
08-08-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Sucking the life out of Deneysville residents
Sucking the life out of Deneysville residents DENEYSVILLE – Following an article published in the Vaalweekblad June 20-26th, private vendors who were sucking French drains in Deneysville, were prohibited from doing so for June while council actioned new tariffs for sucking and dumping effluent at the revamped municipal plant in Refengkgotso. The moratorium aimed to formalise the licensing of legitimate vendors, practices and procedures. However, just the opposite occurred. According to residents a backlash of alleged bribery was recorded in a media release by councillor Lucas Fisher. Furthermore, 'approved service providers' were allegedly lured into double deals with 'rogue vendors'. The vendors allegedly 'hijacked' community contracts; intercepted council-approved, service providers' trucks, and bought off contracts. This meant that the needy households and businesses who welcomed a reduction in tariffs ended up being blocked from taking up the council's offer! Dr Diao Ramabitsa, head of the Metsimaholo Technical Department, reacted to this by attempting to formalise temporary licences towards the end of June. 'Interested businesses must approach the municipal offices in Deneysville for assistance and payment arrangements,' says Ramabitsa. In the meantime, the council-approved, private service provider, who was supposed to operate exclusively at the Refengkgotso sewer plant, allegedly rented out his vehicle during June for R714 at a time to at least one unauthorised vendor. This left the unsuspecting homeowners paying exorbitant amounts for sewer suction based on their earlier contracts with illegal vendors, while that vendor paid the council directly and signed off on the loads sucked. 'The residents have access to municipal-approved rates for removal of septic tanks, and they should be mindful of what other businesses are charging following the huge reduction of tariffs for residential septic tank removals, says Ramabitsa. 'We decided to allow any business to operate as long as they pay for dumping the sewage at our infrastructure.'
The Citizen
23-06-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Private operators accused of bribery in Deneysville
DENEYSVILLE – The Metsimaholo Local Municipality took the high road at the end of May, with municipal director Diao Ramabitsa commenting on alleged corruption within his directorate (Technical Department), relating to the illegal dumping of effluent in Deneysville by private, unlicensed operators and allegations of bribery. His statement, which was shared with the council and then published by Speaker, councillor Lucas Fisher, followed the municipality's release of a new tariff list for the removal of sewerage from greater Deneysville households and businesses, and the depositing of the same into the recently revamped sewerage plant in neighbouring Refengkgotso. The area does not have piped sewerage and is, therefore, reliant upon the municipality or private companies to suck their septic tanks and remove the effluent. (Over the past decade, the municipality has come under criticism by residents for an unreliable service with trucks unavailable due to breakdowns over extended periods.) However, the release of the new tariffs was accompanied by a moratorium on private dumping until July 1. The aim of this, according to Ramabitsa, was for the municipality to reestablish its client base and recoup monies spent on upgrading the Refengkgotso sewer plant. This effectively cut out private vendors from servicing households for at least the month of June, with no apparent undertaking by the municipality of future business. Ramabitsa was adamant that no informal, private contracts would be considered until July 1. He said that, thereafter, the council would look at negotiating new contracts with licensed vendors. The statement followed an incident at the purification plant when the new guidelines were enforced, and some private vendors who were outraged insisted that they could continue to release their effluent as was previously the case. One vendor allegedly tried to bribe a municipal worker at the plant, offering him R16 000, according to Ramabitsa. After threatening to complain to the authorities about the recent spillage at the station, the vendor approached Ramabitsa directly and offered him R20 000 to allow the continued release of effluent at the plant. Ramabitsa reported the matter to the council. At the time of going to press, the municipality was conducting meetings to determine how to handle the alleged bribe. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
The Citizen
22-06-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Dirty deals uncovered in Deneysville
His statement, which was shared with the council and then published by Speaker, councillor Lucas Fisher, followed the municipality's release of a new tariff list for the removal of sewerage from greater Deneysville households and businesses, and the depositing of the same into the recently revamped sewerage plant in neighbouring Refengkgotso. The area does not have piped sewerage and is, therefore, reliant upon the municipality or private companies to suck their septic tanks and remove the effluent. (Over the past decade, the municipality has come under criticism by residents for an unreliable service with trucks unavailable due to breakdowns over extended periods.) However, the release of the new tariffs was accompanied by a moratorium on private dumping until July 1. The aim of this, according to Ramabitsa, was for the municipality to reestablish its client base and recoup monies spent on upgrading the Refengkgotso sewer plant. This effectively cut out private vendors from servicing households for at least the month of June, with no apparent undertaking by the municipality of future business. Ramabitsa was adamant that no informal, private contracts would be considered until July 1. He said that, thereafter, the council would look at negotiating new contracts with licensed vendors. The statement followed an incident at the purification plant when the new guidelines were enforced, and some private vendors who were outraged insisted that they could continue to release their effluent as was previously the case. One vendor allegedly tried to bribe a municipal worker at the plant, offering him R16 000, according to Ramabitsa. After threatening to complain to the authorities about the recent spillage at the station, the vendor approached Ramabitsa directly and offered him R20 000 to allow the continued release of effluent at the plant. Ramabitsa reported the matter to the council. At the time of going to press, the municipality was conducting meetings to determine how to handle the alleged bribe. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
