The troubled municipality is on the brink of total collapse, with chronic water shortages, sewerage leakages, potholes and general neglect a daily grim reality for residents, writes Lucas Ledwaba.
Mogalakwena resident Betty Sekwala waits to fill up containers with water from a neighbour’s house. Residents have no running water in their homes and rely on buying from either independent suppliers or neighbours who have drilled boreholes on their properties.Mokopane businessperson Andy Goetsch has been forced to buy 10 water tanks, each with a 10 000-litre capacity, and added a further three smaller ones, to keep his operations along Thabo Mbeki Street in the town going.
There are times when we have gone seven days without water. I run a car wash and every month I must pay the staff of seven a full salary. Sometimes they work, only for the water to stop running at 9am Donkey carts which offer a delivery service to neighbouring villages and freight trucks remain a regular feature in Mokopane town whose streets are riddled with potholesGoetsch says they have been told that the municipality has no money to buy spares to repair pumps or to replace water pipes, some of which are asbestos pipes that were installed in the 1960s.The septuagenarian has lived most of his life in the town and has observed a gradual decline in service delivery in recent years.
The SIU is also investigating allegations regarding the unlawful, irregular or unapproved acquisitive act, transaction, measure or practice having a bearing upon state property; intentional or negligent loss of public money or damage to public property.While the authorities try to bring those responsible for the mess to book, residents such as Betty Sekwala continue to bear the brunt of the actions of those bestowed with the power to lead.
“Look at the stadium. We are even throwing rubbish there because it’s just a ruin. There is no progress,” says Sekwala. The entity is a community-based civil organisation born out of the prevailing chaos in the municipality. “There is no work. I am trying to survive through this business. But the water issue is really causing us problems,” says Magashula, who started the enterprise two years ago.
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