CAPE TOWN - Community activists in Langa and Khayelitsha say they are hopeful following the visit of the Protector to inspect service delivery issues on Monday.
Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane and her deputy Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka visited the areas to conduct inspections relating to drain blockages as a result of ageing infrastructure, and rising population density, poor road infrastructure and sinkholes.
Public Protector spokesperson Oupa Segwale said: “The visit to the Western Cape is part of a nationwide Stakeholder Roadshow, a flagship outreach programme of the Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) during which the office interacts with parties interested in its work in fulfilment of its constitutional mandate to investigate, report on and remedy alleged or suspected improper conduct in all state affairs and to be accessible to all persons and communities.”
Ward 51 councillor, Lwazi Pakade said they were grateful for the visit in their community.
“We met at N2 Gateway Flats. We showed Advocate Mkhwebane the inhumane conditions, filled with sewage and mould, that our people have been living in since this project started in 2006. We are truly grateful as residents for the Public Protector's visit that also saw the Mayor coming down to attend to the issues that this area has.
“We hope that the Public Protector’s investigation will truly expose the City of Cape Town for its lack of care for the black people in the townships. Our people cannot continue to swim in sewage while they claim to be a City that cares for all,” he said.
This while, Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF) Chairperson Ndithini Tyhido said: “We met with the Public Protector in Makhaza where she was exposed to the state of the roads, and the state of the drains and sewer system, and the City officials that were there also explained their difficulties when they have to service those areas. As well the issues that affect the debilitated underground infrastructure.
Mkhwebane and Gcaleka also visited the Premier’s Office and provincial government over service delivery throughout the province.
Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said they would work on issues raised during the inspection.
“There was little detail ahead of the visit and no information on where we were going and what we were going to be looking at. Some serious sewage problems were identified, and as you know I’ve been very vocal about these problems since the first day of my Mayoralty. There is a serious effort by us to improve sewage infrastructure, buying more jet trucks to unblock sewers, and major pipe replacements. We will work on the problems identified today, there is a lot of work ahead to fix these issues over time,” Hill-Lewis said.
Cape Times