IZINDUNA from eMakhabeleni, outside Greytown in KZN, will not give up fighting for service delivery in their respective communities.
They struggle to have basic needs such as water, electricity and roads.
The community leaders said they have been to every department asking for help, but nothing is happening.
Jabulani Bhengu, an induna from Ndimakude, said he had lost hope things would change in his community.
“There's no development in my community. Since 1994, I haven't seen any changes. There are no proper roads. We don't have electricity in our homes. We are unhappy with the lack of service delivery,” he said.
Bhengu said they have been waiting since 2016 for electricity.
The poles were erected, and cables were connected only to the yards.
“When you ask why the project is not completed, they tell you there's a shortage of cables. When you ask if these cables are coming from overseas, you don’t get answers,” he said.
Bhengu said the water project started in 2018, but they still don't have water.
He said in November 2021, during the local government elections, authorities from the uMzinyathi District Municipality came, and the reticulation tank was filled with water.
He recalls that the community was overjoyed, thinking their problems were over.
“What is more painful is that we are surrounded by the uThukela river, but we drink dirty water peed on by donkeys, cows and other wild animals. This poses health risks to our lives. We would be happy if we get answers as to why we can't get water,” said Bhengu.
He points out that politicians will visit them next year (2014) to ask for their votes.
Induna Silwayiphi Dlamini of Dinda said they will continue knocking at the doors of the uMzinyathi municipality.
“We desperately need water. In some areas, people don’t even have streams or natural springs nearby,” he said.
Dlamini is pleading with the government to at least build dams or dig boreholes.
He told Daily Sun that people hire bakkies and donkeys to get them water.
Mzikayifani Khumalo, an induna of KwaSenge, said the electricity project started in 2014 in his area, but they still live in the dark nine years later.
“Even if other communities have problems, they cannot compare to ours.
“We're already towards the end of 2023. Chances are we still won’t have water and electricity come 2024,” he said.
Khumalo recalls that before 2021, they had water tankers supplying the community with water, but they were stopped in November 2021.
“What are we supposed to drink? We can’t even plant anything,” he said.
UMzinyathi municipal spokesman Nkanyiso Cebekhulu said the rural municipality is cash strapped as it doesn’t have revenue and relies on grants.
He said the project for water provision is on and off because of the problem with the source.
“We do have water tankers that service eMakhabeleni, although we can't say they operate satisfactorily. We experienced problems with breakdowns, but we're fixing them to continue to provide water to our communities,” he said.
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Cebekhulu admitted that the tankers did not service the communities daily.
As the SunTeam drove around the communities, they experienced the daily struggles of the villagers.
Bongekile Makhaye (59) from eMadekeni complains about the long distance they walk to catch transport to town because of bad roads.
She said when it rains, they're sometimes forced to leave their groceries in homesteads in KwaSenge, where the taxis end, about 10 kilometres away.
“When it rains, you can't carry your groceries home because some items get wet and spoiled. Imagine if it rains for three to four consecutive days, you starve," she said.
The community was forced to club together to buy cement and sand to build a bridge that connects KwaSenge and eMadekeni because the road gets washed away during the rainy season.
Lucky Masikane said they are tired of complaining to the councillors.
“After we built the bridge ourselves, leaders promised to build us a proper one. But until today, nothing has happened,” he said.
The ward councillor was recently expelled by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, for allegedly missing four consecutive council meetings in June.
