The situation we live in should not be a political tennis ball match, says community leader
CAPE TOWN - An urgent meeting between Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu and the City is on the cards to address service delivery issues in Khayelitsha.
Mchunu visited the area’s Site C on Wednesday, following a demonstration on Tuesday during which hundreds of residents blocked main roads and burnt tyres in protest over a lack of service delivery in the area.
Mchunu said the City has failed the people, and there needs to be a plan with the local government on how they could solve the issues including sewage blockages.
“Residents have had complaints about the sewage in the area and I had to attend to it.
“I have just witnessed it myself, and it's just a bad situation for people living in the area.
“Also I was not impressed by the treatment from the City’s call centre when I followed up with the complaint that was lodged by one of the residents.
“She clearly stated that the matter will not be attended to immediately and she does not know when it will be attended to because she had to escalate it.
“The matter was lodged a long time ago and I don't know how many calls they escalate and do nothing about them,” said Mchunu.
The City's manager for Water and Sanitation, Pierre Maritz, who was present during Wednesday’s visit, said the City has engaged with the community.
"The City is attending to the lodged complaints and now there is a truck that is fixing the sewage in the area as we speak. All of them will be attended to one by one," said Maritz.
Khayelitsha Development Forum chairperson Ndithini Tyhido said residents were living in squalor.
“We are very encouraged by the passion by which Minister Mchunu has taken up the issue here.
“The situation we live in should not be a political tennis ball match.
“All we want is resolutions to the problem. We wanted him to see for himself what we are subjected to as the people of Khayelitsha.
“The most painful thing as a resident of Khayelitsha is to report and get a reference (number), then there is no correlation between the reference and the turnaround time,” said Tyhido.
Cape Times