Merebank community voices frustration over the "lack of service delivery"
CONSEQUENCE MANAGEMENT
Residents and business owners of Chinatown and Navy in Merebank, together with the Democratic Alliance held a picket over the alleged service delivery failures of the eThekwini Municipality.
Image: Supplied
RESIDENTS and business owners in ward 75 in Merebank have expressed their frustration over alleged inadequate municipal services, highlighting ongoing issues such as potholes, sewer overflow, and unkempt verges by the eThekwini Municipality.
Ward 75 comprises the areas Chinatown and Navy.
Last Friday, residents and members of the DA picketed along Tomango Road, where road repairs were being done. The residents claimed that just a month earlier, repairs were undertaken to a burst water pipe.
Navin Singh, the chairperson of the Chinatown and Navy Civic Association, said: “For more than three weeks, the association has been logging complaints about the road, which has been left open, and posed a serious hazard to the community. Yet, nothing was done.
“Service delivery in the community is a great concern. We continuously write to the municipality about cutting the grass and bushes, fixing potholes and cleaning out the manholes. In addition, we have to deal with constant sewer overflow because the current infrastructure can no longer accommodate the growing population. Nothing is being done to maintain or upgrade the infrastructure. We question what we are then paying our rates for?”
Premilla Deonath, the chairperson of the Merewest Community Foundation, said: “Prior and current repairs to the road have inconvenienced both residents and businesses. Residents did not want to travel along the road. They felt it was unsafe due to the hole, and this resulted in businesses losing income.”
She said businesses had taken it upon themselves to pay for the grass and bushes to be cut.
"But how are they expected to repair roads, streetlights and burst pipes? It is not their responsibility, but rather the municipality.”
Sithembiso Ngema, the DA’s deputy leader in KwaZulu-Natal and ward 75 PR councillor, said: “Residents and business owners are now saying they are fed-up with the lack of service delivery. They are paying their rates, but are not getting value for their money.
“It is time the municipality is held accountable. There must be some consequence management for its staff who are failing to, and don’t want to serve communities. The residents can’t keep collecting reference numbers for their complaints,” he said.
In its response to the POST, the municipality said it did not comment on allegations made without supporting information.
“The municipality will be able to respond and assist once reference numbers are provided. This allows us to investigate the matters properly and take accountability where necessary.”