By Anna Majavu
The small town of Alicedale, 53 kilometres from Makhanda, is plagued by joblessness, water shortages and leaks, broken streetlights, a rising rate of crime, toxic sewage leaks, and a shortage of municipal workers to fix the problems and managers to oversee the workers.
The town is the only place in Makana Municipality that has an independent ward councillor, Vuyani Nesi. He left the ANC to stand as an independent candidate in 2021 and won the ward.
But activists on the ward committee for Ward 14, some of whom are former political prisoners from the anti-Apartheid struggle, say the municipality is not giving Nesi the support he needs to make a difference in Alicedale.
“Our councillor is overlooked and they don’t care about him. He is like a loophole. We don’t really appreciate that and we need him to be respected and given the support he deserves,” Khayalethu Nyamakazi of the ward committee and Alicedale Ex-Political Detainees Organisation told Grocott’s Mail.
Nyamakazi added that the town had many other problems, including crime and unemployment. There was a “dire need for the high mast lights to be fixed because the rate of crime is getting beyond control”, he said.
“People are being robbed and there are deaths that are taking place even though Alicedale is so small. People knock on our windows at 3am asking for matches with the intention of breaking in,” he added.
Nyamakazi said the municipality could also do a lot more to employ Alicedale residents as municipal workers. “We have people who are qualified here in Alicedale but they leave because there are no jobs. I also left for a long time and only came back last year. I applied and applied. They know that we have qualifications and experience here but they will choose to employ a misfit instead,” he said.
Zanemvula Ntoyanto, secretary of the ward committee, agreed, saying that Makana Municipality must supply the town with a unit manager or general foreman to supervise the municipal workers there.
“How is this municipality going to operate properly without these positions? It has been a long time since we were promised that these posts would be allocated to Alicedale,” said Ntoyanto, adding that the posts had been vacant for two years.
He said the drains were not properly cleaned, and garbage was not removed properly because nobody was supervising the workers. He said that when municipal workers died or moved away, they were not replaced.
“I’m very frustrated about the way we are being treated in Alicedale. Why are we not treated by our local, district, provincial, or national government in a proper way? There are so many things that are being done wrong or not attended to,” Ntoyanto added.
Vusumzi Zembeta, Alicedale community activist and former anti-Apartheid struggle activist said the isolated nature of the town leads to authorities and businesses overlooking the residents.
“We are just deliberately marginalised by the people of the urban areas. They are undermining us in every way. Here in Alicedale, we don’t have a pharmacy, and we don’t have a place where we can be sure of getting fresh fruit and vegetables,” said Zembeta.
Recently, USave opened up a container store – the only franchise supermarket in the town – which Zembeta said was a “relief”. But he pointed out that while residents could now buy meat and other goods, the small store did not stock fresh produce.
“We are also supposed to have a bank at least. If you monitor the people of Alicedale at the end of the month, they are going to Makhanda just to withdraw money because most of the time our ATM is in disorder. It is such a sad situation”, he added.
Brendon Klaase, another ward committee member, said he was very troubled by the number of sewage and water leaks in the town. “Basically, we need more maintenance because there are too many leaks, and there is no pressure to make the water flow. The municipality needs to come and have a look to see where the problem is and fix it. Workers don’t come to fix leaks here because there is no management to call them,” Klaase said.
He said there were still families who did not have toilets, the sewage leaks were making people ill, and he could not remember when last an RDP house was built in Alicedale.
“We are waiting now for many years for the government to come out and tell us when houses will be built. The street lights need to be fixed because we know each other in Alicedale but we can’t see who is walking where because it is dark. We really need light,” Klaase concluded.
Grocott’s Mail reached out to Makana Municipality from 3 October with questions. This story will be updated if the Municipality sends comment.
