Despite Cllr Patel and his perceived ‘sidekick,’ CPF Chair, Shaheen Wahab, more fondly known as the ‘Changu & Mangu’ pair, often posting photos of themselves walking the streets of Ward 61, to ‘talk to the community’ and supposedly to get a ‘better understanding’ of the problems residents are facing, regarding crime and grime in the area, residents remain disturbed concerning poor service delivery in the area.
In one of the latest complaints received by the Laudium Sun and what some residents describe as ‘stinky service delivery’ by the ANC-led Tshwane Council, residents of Bengal Street complained for days of a blocked main drain, resulting in dirty sewage water and faeces pouring out of a manhole onto the streets. Residents say that the blockage in front of a school started the previous Sunday (June 8) and had been going on for over a week, despite several calls to the Council and the Ward Councillor, to urgently attend to the matter. The blocked manhole drain on Bengal Street, in front of Laudium Heights School caused disruptions and annoyances for residents living in the area, especially parents of schoolchildren, as the kids had to be dropped off to school far away from the main gate, in order to avoid walking through the dirty sewage water.
Melani Lutchman, a resident of Bengal Street in Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, “The manhole drain leaking in front of Laudium Heights School is terrible. The leakage is causing major problems, especially for the schoolchildren and it’s really dangerous—kids could slip and seriously injure themselves. This has been going on for several days now and the Council has remained completely silent. They know very well that the drain is right in front of a school, yet nothing has been done. I don’t understand why it’s taking so long to fix something so urgent. The smell is disgusting and it’s affecting everyone—especially our children. The Council must fix this leak as soon as possible. We pay our rates and taxes and in return, we get third-class service. It’s completely unacceptable. There needs to be a better system in place to serve the community. We, as residents, are fed up with the poor service. The problem lies with Council workers who just come to patch things up for the sake of appearances. They don’t fix anything permanently. Every week in Laudium, it’s the same issue with drains and other services. Why doesn’t the Council have properly trained people who know what they’re doing? We are truly sick and tired of all this. We want proper governance and better service delivery for the people of Laudium.”
Ellit Ramupjaa, a school transporter from Bengal Street, told the Laudium Sun, “I come here every day, as I transport children to Laudium Heights School and I’ve noticed the manhole drain has been leaking for a few days now—and it still hasn’t been fixed. It’s really difficult for schoolchildren to move around because there’s dirty, smelly water all over the place and the children are suffering because of it. The Council workers need to come and fix this urgently because it’s affecting everyone. I’ve had to park my Quantum further away because of the leakage and that creates problems for the kids who need to get in and out of the school safely. After last weekend, I thought that the blockage would definitely be fixed, but on Monday when I brought the kids to school in the morning, I was surprised to see the filthy water still running in front of the school. It’s been several days—since the previous Sunday—and nothing has been done. The worst part is that small children can’t always tell the difference between clean and dirty water. Sometimes they even play near the blocked drain and I really hope that none of them get sick from the contaminated water leaking out. This situation is unacceptable, especially outside a school.”
Another Bengal Street resident, Veerin Naidoo, told the Laudium Sun, “This is pure negligence by the Council. They can clearly see that there is a manhole drain leaking right in front of a school—so why are they taking so long to fix it? I really don’t understand the kind of service we’re receiving from the Council. This is completely unacceptable. They must come and fix it immediately.”
The Laudium Sun called an official at the relevant Council office concerning the leak, earlier in the week, who assured us that the matter would receive their priority. At the time of going to press, last night (Thursday), residents in the area told the Laudium Sun that the drain has now been unblocked, but that they did not know for how long, as they did not trust the workmanship of the Council workers.