Lentswe, Kanana - Councillors from both Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality and City of Matlosana Local Municipality agree that it is necessary for government to go the extra mile to change the lives of citizens. Speaking at a community feedback session in Ext 13, Kanana, Dr KKDM Cllr Victor Itebogeng and Matlosana Executive Mayor Fikile Mahlophe said they are failing their voters. “Our parents, and to some extent our immediate families and relatives are the ones feeling the negative impact of having to live with derelict infrastructure, especially roads and sewer spillages. But we must also raise the fact that in as much as the rainy weather has caused many problems on our roads, the other reality is that the recent floods worsened it.
“We really need to pull up our socks as government in terms of service delivery. Whether the rain was here or not, the situation has been bad in Kanana. We need commitment from both municipal political and administrative leadership. What we will do as the district, is to work hand in glove with the local municipality to monitor progress and impact of what Thuntsa Lerole is supposed to be,’’ Cllr Itebogeng said.
Pointing to the issue of compliance practices by the community, specific to roads infrastructure as well as public health and safety, Itebogeng called on responsible authorities to also play their part to ensure that public roads are safe for communities to use.
“I think we must also take a different approach. In as much as we welcome that a programme has been made regarding the issue of traffic fines and others, but we also need to meet the requirement of roadworthy vehicles with up to standard roads.
“We cannot expect our communities to keep their vehicles in good condition when the roads are not in a satisfactory condition.”
Whilst Mayor Mahlophe advocated for variation in the way local government engages service delivery, he criticized superficial visits that fail to bring lasting change, committing himself and the city’s leadership to stay in Kanana for a full week to resolve issues, calling on public servants to treat communities with dignity, respect and care,
“We are not here for a public relations exercise. Municipal administrative heads will never know the problems faced by our communities if they do not come to townships. They will only resolve the problems of the people if they come to the people.
Thuntsa Lerole is about making an impact on the lives of the people. The roads in Kanana are unattractive and as a mayor myself I cannot drive in those roads. The question to ask ourselves as an oversight unit of local government is ‘What are we saying about the state of the roads? What are we saying about sewerage spills overflowing in our communities? What are we saying about non-working street lights in our communities?’
“As a municipality, we never head-hunted anybody to come work as an official. What we ask off the officials is for them to come and implement whatever it is they said in their interviews on the ground.
“If I have to choose between the MMCs and the people, I would choose the people seated in this gathering precisely because we do not understand the sacrifices our people did for us to be here. We don’t respect and appreciate the sacrifices made by our communities when they stood in long queues to vote us in as their representatives,” the mayor said.
Thuntsha Lerole is an Accelerated Service Delivery Programme intended to intensify and accelerate the provision of basic services, intervene where there are service delivery blockages and promote consistent engagement with different communities across the province on service delivery issues.
