Durban — With service delivery problems mounting in the uThukela (Ladysmith) District Municipality, including the hacking of the mayor’s cellphone, the community is hoping for better conditions.
Last week the municipality warned the community that mayor Inkosi NB Shabalala’s phone was hacked.
A message on Facebook stated: “It has come to the attention of the municipality that the mobile phone has been hacked and his number cloned. This person wants money from people and says he will give them tenders in the municipality. Please ignore any requests that you may receive from his number, and kindly alert others of the problem.”
Shabalala said work to fix water problems facing the community of ward 23 in Matiwane was continuing, when he accompanied municipal workers to the area to fix water pipes. They also replaced old pipes with new.
“Ageing infrastructure has a major impact on water leakages. As a consequence, large parts of the community end up not getting water,” he said.
Recently the chairperson for the infrastructure portfolio, councillor Mthokozisi Khoza, and his team introduced a contractor to undertake the construction of precast VIP toilets at Burford Community Hall under Alfred Duma Local Municipality.
About 100 of these toilets are set to be built in the area. It is expected that the project will create around 50 job opportunities for the local community.
The municipality said it would take up to nine months to complete the project, and about 100 households would benefit. It said the project was a direct response to sanitation backlogs.
“It is essential that we provide our community with dignified basic services through infrastructure of water and sanitation. There are water projects that are in the pipeline for this community which include fixing existing boreholes,” said Khoza.
Appealing to the community of ward 14 to safeguard and look after the infrastructure provided, Khoza said it was disheartening that people stole and sometimes vandalised the infrastructure.
On Wednesday, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube will hold the Operation Sukuma Sakhe District development model in uThukela District Municipality under Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality.
Dube-Ncube said she is on a mission to accelerate service delivery, improve access to public services and build safer communities. She said the council would use the day to assess progress in service delivery and the implementation of programmes to improve the lives of communities in various wards.
“The occasion will be utilised to respond to and remove obstructions that frustrate service delivery to the communities.
“The Operation Sukuma Sakhe will be rebranded to be more impactful and deliver visible improvement in the lives of communities,” Dube-Ncube said.
Daily News