A Member of Parliament who recently came to a Makana Council meeting said that driving through Grahamstown made her feel guilty when she saw people protesting and throwing buckets of human waste on the streets.
A Member of Parliament who recently came to a Makana Council meeting said that driving through Grahamstown made her feel guilty when she saw people protesting and throwing buckets of human waste on the streets.
MP and Human Settlements Portfolio Committee chairperson, Nomhle Dambuza, came to the Makana Council Chamber on Wednesday. She was accompanied by a team of committee members and officials from the national and provincial departments of human settlements to address local infrastructure challenges.
In the council chamber, Executive Mayor Zamuxolo Peter encouraged Makana councillors and officials to be very frank and open about what they are struggling with. "Let's not hide anything," he said, explaining that it would hinder the municipality from getting assistance. "We cannot pretend that all is well… The community is up in arms over service delivery," Peter said.
Then Municipal Manager, Ntombi Baart made a presentation featuring details of the water and sanitation backlogs in Makana. She said:
* Informal areas need to be formalised, which requires approval from the Premier for township establishment.
* The formalised areas of Kwa-Ndancama and Eluxolweni settlements still have 33 and 69 houses respectively, that are using the bucket system.
* R75 million is needed to address sanitation backlogs.
* Households in areas like Extension 6 are using pit latrines that Baart said are "not user-friendly". They are built on a flat terrain and when it rains the pit overflows, blocking the system.
* A R50-million loan has been taken out to upgrade the bulk water supply for the James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works. Baart appealed for assistance with he loan. The Mayor added that the council put aside R2.6 million which will be claimed back from Human Settlements to proceed with the eradication of the bucket system in formalised areas.
The informal areas have a total of 207 households that are still using the system. A portfolio committee member said that by the end of the financial year they would like to see the end of the bucket system, and bring back dignity to the people.
Dambuza commented that one time when she passed through Grahamstown and saw people toy-toying and overturning buckets in the streets, she felt terrible. "I felt so guilty… We are not doing enough to help he community," she said. "If you feel guilty, imagine how we felt," was Councillor Pierre Ranchhod's response.
He said that Grahamstown will be turning 200 years old next year and the basic infrastructure that Grahamstown was built on is deteriorating, which holds back the building of more settlements. Another big infrastructural problem in Makana is its roads, said Infrastructure Development portfolio committee chairperson, Councillor Nomhle Gaga.
She said the roads in Makana have been declared a disaster. The municipality has funding of R4 million for roads, but she said that would not be enough to fix one road properly. "I don't want you to leave and think that all is well in Makana," Gaga said.
She also said that if money is poured into Makana they must be aware that there was previously a problem with underspending. Dambuza said that she would take the information back to the portfolio committee for discussion.
