Erasmia library closed for 3 months due to lights not paid to landlord… Time for ANC Cllr Patel to be booked & read message loud and clear…’Your ANC-led Council is failing the community’

While more and more readers complain to the Laudium Sun about poor service delivery carried out by the ANC-led Tshwane Council, ANC Ward Councillor Naeem Patel’s attempts to ‘paint a good picture’ of the ANC continues to fail.

Patel, with the help of his mainly Pakistani constituency, is now desperately trying to ‘buy the votes’ of the poorest of the poor, living in the informal settlement areas of his Ward, for the forthcoming local Government elections, which Patel is once more contesting. While Patel is busy promoting himself on social media platforms, he is failing dismally to even understand the various problems and lack of services the community is faced with.

One of the many failures of the ANC-led Tshwane Council that Patel has not been up front about, with the community, is the Council owned Erasmia Library, situated on Grey Street at the Shezan Centre complex, which has been without electricity for months. As a result, readers do not have proper access to the library for reading and the process of the borrowing of books has, become very slow. Librarians are forced to rely on manual record-keeping and issuing of books, as everything must be done by hand due to the lack of electricity. Many residents are now saying that Patel does not seem to even know of the problem at the library, while others are saying that Patel was hiding the failure of the Council, so as not to paint a ‘bad picture’ of the ANC. However, residents are not sleeping and have complained to the Laudium Sun about the dire problem at the Erasmia Library.

UNISA lecturer Dr Ahmed Jazbhay of Peter Street, Erasmia, who is also a regular reader at the Erasmia Library, complained to the Laudium Sun, “I’ve been using the library in Erasmia for at least the last seven years. I work both at home and at the office and I come here to the library a few times a week. Sometimes I even come here the whole week to do my work from 9 in the morning until about 4 in the afternoon, Monday to Friday, give or take. About three months ago, I came to the library and there was no electricity. At first, I thought it was just a normal outage, but the next day the same thing happened and then the next day again. I realised that the surrounding businesses had electricity and I was then told that there was an issue with the City of Tshwane not paying the landlord and that it would be sorted out soon. However, three months later, the situation is still the same and nothing has changed. It appears that the City of Tshwane is not paying the rent and electricity on premises that it does not own, but rents. Other libraries such as the Eldoglen Library are open and fully functional, while libraries like Erasmia, although open, do not have electricity because these are rented premises. Even the staff here, two librarians and a cleaner, have not been given any clear communication. They come to work every day, but there is very little for them to do. Most of the time they sit on their phones, on TikTok or Facebook, or stand outside talking. There is also a security guard and essentially they are all here with no real duties because the library cannot function properly without electricity. I was recently here on a Friday from 8 in the morning until around 1 pm in the afternoon and only about two people came in during that entire time. The librarians are manually processing books that are taken out and returned, writing everything down by hand. Many people ask when the situation will be resolved, but the librarians themselves do not know. They have simply been told to come to work, not to ask too many questions and that they will continue to receive their salaries while waiting for the City of Tshwane to decide what will happen next. There have been rumours that the library might be moved to the Erasmia Hall because it is owned by the City of Tshwane and there have also been rumours that the staff may be reassigned to the Laudium Library at the Civic Centre, which is also owned by the City. However, three months later, none of this has materialised. Staff continue to come in every day with no meaningful work and as ratepayers who pay our rates every month, we are left without a proper place to study, to work, or to read books. I cannot even borrow books easily for my children because the manual process takes too long and is frustrating. It feels like we have gone back to the 1960s, doing everything by hand, instead of living in 2026 where we talk about artificial intelligence but cannot even maintain basic electricity services. The City of Tshwane must answer for this. We need to know when the situation will be resolved, whether the library will be re-opened properly, or whether it will be closed permanently and the services moved elsewhere in the area. Either way, the City of Tshwane must provide clear answers because this situation is completely untenable. Ratepayers pay for services every month, including electricity and Municipal services and a library is a very basic service. It is not something complicated to provide. If the City is not going to provide it, then they must be honest and tell us so that we can make alternative arrangements without wasting more time. As residents, we demand answers. If the intention is to encourage people to read and use public facilities, then those facilities must be operational and accessible. If not, then people and staff must be redirected to functioning libraries in the area. To have a situation where for three months there are no services, where people come to work only to sit on social media, is simply unacceptable. There needs to be finality because this is a waste of taxpayers’ and ratepayers’ money. We want to know what is happening in the City of Tshwane and when this matter will finally be resolved without any further delay.”

Librarian at the Erasmia Library, Nkosi Nzimande, told the Laudium Sun, “I don’t have much to say on the ongoing electricity crisis here at this library. It is between the landlord and the City of Tshwane, so I can’t say much about it. We are currently processing the books manually, which is taking more time than usual, due to the lack of electricity at our library. This situation has made daily operations difficult, as many of our systems depend on power to function properly. Without electricity, we are unable to use computers, scanners and other essential equipment that helps us serve the community efficiently. As a result, everything is slower and both staff and visitors are affected by the delays. People who come to borrow or return books have to wait longer and it is not the level of service we
would like to provide. The library is an important space for learning and studying and the absence of electricity has disrupted that environment significantly. We are trying our best to continue working under these circumstances, but it is not easy to manage everything manually for such a long period. I sincerely hope that the matter will be resolved soon so that we can return to normal operations. The community depends on this library with many students even using the facility to study here, which they cannot do now. We would like to restore full services as soon as possible.”

Cleaner at the Erasmia Library, Thandi Silvia, told the Laudium Sun, “We are doing our job as normal even though there is no electricity. Some functions are limited, but whatever work we have to do, we are doing it as best as we can. The lack of electricity has made certain tasks more difficult, especially when it comes to cleaning areas that usually require proper lighting or equipment that depends on power. However, wecontinue to carry out our duties every day and make sure the library remains clean and presentable for everyone who visits. It is not easy working under these conditions, but we understand that our role is important in keeping the environment neat and welcoming. We try to manage with what we have and make the most of the situation. Even though some things are slower or more challenging, we are committed to doing our work properly. I hope that the electricity issue will be resolved soon so that everything can return to normal and we can work more efficiently with all facilities fully functional again.”

When the Laudium Sun contacted ANC Ward Councillor, Naeem Patel for a comment on the dysfunctional state of the library, all Naeem said was, “Lights.”