By Uyanda Khumalo
After decades of unanswered pleas, residents of Scott’s Farm in Makhanda are now fixing their own potholes and drains, fed up with Makana Municipality’s failure to deliver even the most basic services.
“It’s been 30 years and they’ve done nothing,” says 65-year-old Verna Haywoot, sharing the frustration of a community that feels abandoned by local government. Blocked drains, broken streetlights and crumbling roads have plagued the area for years, and the only visible sign of municipal work is a wall built around a nearby field and some paving on the main road.
“We are old. We can’t go out in the streets at night,” Haywoot says, referring to the non-functioning streetlights that have made evening walks unsafe. “It’s no use you come and fix the field when the streets are looking like this.”
Residents say their complaints have fallen on deaf ears. Clint Ambraal, 60, who has lived in Scott’s Farm his entire life, highlights the deteriorating state of the three roads, James Bowles Street, Cobus Street and Blackbeard Street, that connect the area to the rest of town. “For the whole community to get out, they need to use one of the three… they are all in bad shape,” he says. “You can report this, but they don’t listen.”
Taking matters into their own hands, Ambraal and other residents have started filling the potholes themselves. “Makana is going to do nothing. Our cars are getting damaged, so just get your hands dirty and start doing the work,” he says. But their efforts are temporary; heavy rain frequently washes away the sand and stones they use.
Local undertaker and business owner Ernie Cassels has even stepped in with machinery from his funeral service company. Using his own backhoe loader, Cassels has helped grade and repair some roads for R600 per hour, paid from his own pocket. “Every time something is wrong around us, I see if I can help… Seeing that I’m an undertaker in the community, I take it to heart,” he says.
Residents have continued working together to improve their surroundings, from clearing blocked drains to smoothing treacherous roads.
Makana Municipality has not responded to Grocott’s Mail.
