Complaints of poor service delivery by the ANC-led Tshwane Council, continue despite ANC Ward Councillor, Naeem Patel trying his level best to paint a ‘good picture’ of the Council.
In one of the many such complaints received this week, residents of Grey Street in Erasmia, said that they are fed-up with the slow pace of service delivery and that the Council seemingly is not interested in attending to residents’ concerns with urgency, like they did in the former White suburbs.
This follows a water pipe bursting in the middle of Grey Street, that was noticed last Thursday (Sept 4), forcing a closure of the street. However, despite numerous calls by residents to the Council and to Patel’s office, Tshwane workers only arrived two days later to repair the pipe. Besides the major inconvenience caused, residents feared that a sink hole would erupt, as cracks started showing up on the street, which is in an area known to be unstable geologically. Furthermore, residents complained that after repairing the pipe, Council workers did not close the hole and left the place in a poor state, without cleaning up, leaving the street still closed.
Mohammed Ali, a resident of Grey Street and the owner of 7 Star Salon, told the Laudium Sun, “The water pipe burst on Thursday September 4 and the City of Tshwane only came to fix it on September 6. The pipe burst underneath the road, causing a portion of the street to crack right in front of my shop. This has been extremely inconvenient for us, as the street had to be closed. Our business has been badly affected and it is a serious issue because part of the street could now sink at any time. It is not safe for us, our cars, or our families. This kind of negligence from the Council is unacceptable. Issues like this should be treated as an emergency. It is not just a small crack; the burst pipe underneath has created a dangerous situation. The Municipality works too slowly in Erasmia and this matter must be resolved urgently.”
Mamu Abdula, another business owner from Grey Street, told the Laudium Sun, “After we reported the burst water pipe, the Council workers were very slow in responding. A portion of the street is cracked and it is dangerous to pass. We don’t know what can happen. With the street being closed, we lost many customers and it is inconvenient for us to go around the corner. The Council must act faster and show concern for the public.”
Grey Street resident, Zahir Khalif, told the Laudium Sun, “This is really not acceptable, because at the end of the day we are the ones who suffer. The road is closed, there is a big crack in the street and it is very scary since the water pipe burst right here. The City Council has been negligent. They only sent workers out two days later. This shows how irresponsible they are.”
At the time of going to press, the street has since been opened. However residents say that they still fear that there could be a sink hole erupting.