Despite various social media posts by ANC Cllr Naeem Patel, purportedly showing how diligent he was in carrying out his duties as Councillor of Ward 61 and the good service delivery provided by the ANC-led Tshwane Council, residents in the Ward, are certainly not fooled by these misleading posts.
This, as residents in the area, continue to receive poor services from Patel’s office and the Tshwane Council.
In one of the latest complaints to the Laudium Sun, residents of Kathmandu Street, in Laudium Ext 3, have again complained, saying that they are upset that their ongoing complaints of the streetlights not working on their street, have still not be attended to, despite the dangers posed to them and their families, due to crime and a live electrical cable hanging from one of the streetlight poles.
Residents say that the streetlights were not working for about two years and then finally after their plight was highlighted in the Laudium Sun in June, the Council repaired the lights. Soon thereafter, the lights went off again, after a cable snapped and since then, they have not been working.
Seelin Verdappen, a resident of Kathmandu Street, told the Laudium Sun, “One of the streetlight cables snapped in June and has been hanging since and still not been fixed, causing the streetlights to go off, it’s been over a month now. This is very dangerous because it’s an electric cable that’s broken and lying on the road. Many people have complained about it to the Council and the office of the Councillor and it was even mentioned again in the Laudium Sun recently, which we know Cllr Patel reads, but still the Council has not come out to fix it. Due to the snapped cable, the streetlights are not working at all and it’s very dark in our area. The situation is really unsafe, especially at night, because the entire street is in darkness and criminals are taking advantage of this. The Council must come and fix this urgently. It’s been too long now and the exposed electric cable on the road poses a serious danger, especially to children. The service delivery from the Tshwane Council and the response from the Councillor is really pathetic. They need to get their act together and immediately.”
Chelo Biehl, another resident of Kathmandu Street, added: “The snapped electric cable has been hanging on our street for about a month now. It’s extremely dangerous for residents, as anyone walking past could get hurt. The Council must come and fix it as we have had a problem for about two years, before this. The service delivery of the Tshwane Council is really poor. How can the Council leave such a hazardous electric cable exposed in a public area without taking action? This shows serious negligence. The cable must be repaired immediately. We can’t continue living like this.”
Tshwane Council is really bad and leaving a hazardous electrical cable exposed is serious negligence.
Yet another Kathmandu Street resident, Faryal Seedat, told the Laudium Sun, “I’ve seen the electric cable lying on the ground for a long time now and it’s really scary. Anyone could touch it without knowing, and something serious could happen at any moment. The Council and the Ward Councillor must attend to the matter immediately. None of the streetlights on our street are working either. The one in front of my house hasn’t worked for almost two
years, before this cable snapped. Once, PR Councillor Prajay Ramjee, helped fix it, but due to a technical fault, the light switched off again. The Council needs to come to our street and fix the streetlights. It’s so dark at night that we literally can’t go outside after sunset. We have to rush home before it gets dark, because the whole street is pitch black.”
