Residents in the informal settlement of Itireleng have lambasted the ANC/ActionSA led Tshwane Council for the poor service delivery of basic needs.
One of the many complaints of the residents in the area, is the non-mantainence of the gravel roads, which they say becomes inaccessible during the rainy season, due to pools of rain water and mud. The residents say that during the current rainy season, rain water has filled up on these roads, as these roads are not sloped for water to run down, with rain water also filing up along the path in the many of the holes on these roads, which are not levelled out from time to time. One of the residents from Itireleng, which is at the doorstep of Laudium, who complained to the Laudium Sun, is Mthabesi Ndlovu (24) who said, “The roads at the entrance to Itireleng are always in a bad condition, but gets worse when it is raining. We as pedestrians struggle to walk at the entrance because it gets very muddy after the rain. The taxis and cars also have difficulty in entering Itireleng or even to go into the area. There are huge holes usually on these roads as they are never attended to by the Council to level it, then with the rain the water just stays on the road like a pool, which makes it very difficult to walk through. The stagnant water also causes mosquitos to breed there, which is a health hazard for all of us. It is one thing that we do not have tar roads but the Council is not even maintaining these gravel roads, which have been in this poor condition for the past 15 years. I work at the butchery next to the entrance where many of the residents are complaining about the road. Our customers who live far from us, cannot come to our butcher to buy meat immediately after the rains because the roads is muddy and full of water for days after the rain. The Tshwane Council must attend to this problem of the poor roads which we have been complaining for years now. It is time that we as residents are taken seriously, we need our roads to be upgraded because these roads are in a bad condition,” Mthabesi said.
Katlego Andriann (34) also a resident of Itireleng told the , “When it is raining the roads are unaccessible, even days after the rain due to the mud and water remaining on the roads. We have been complaining about the state of these roads for more than fifteen years. Our Councillor is aware of this matter. Many politicians have come into our area when it was election time and they have seen the poor conditions of our area. Each time they make promises such as giving us proper housing and roads, but we are still waiting for them to carry out their promises. There is no service delivery in our area. The President even visited our area, but we are still living in these poor conditions, which they all know about. We are urging the Tshwane Council and Councillor to do something about these roads and to improve our living conditions. The ANC government is useless, they have ruled this country and the Gauteng Province for more than thirty years, but we are still living in these poor conditions.”
Mokgadi Maloba (39) also from Itireleng told the Laudium Sun, “We are living in an unclean and smelly area, because council workers take time to collect the rubbish which piles up here for weeks. There is no drainage system in our area. The area is smelly also because dirty water is everywhere as a result of no drainage system. We are appealing to the Council to tar road these roads or at least maintain them, especially the main road leading into Itireleng.”
In response, Ward 61 Councillor Naeem Patel said, “The authorities cannot upgrade the roads at the informal settlement because the residents are living there illegally and the land belongs to PPC Cement Company, but I will speak to the necessary people to do something about these gravel roads.”