DURBAN - ETHEKWINI mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, has promised to reconnect electricity to homes in the Umgudulu informal settlement in Reservoir Hills.
This comes after the mayor’s visit to the area yesterday. The mayor met residents following a protest last week.
Last week the mayor promised to get officials to address the problems. The issues raised by residents included poor maintenance of public ablution facilities and the installation of electricity in houses which had been affected by fire.
Kaunda said that he had received a call that the community was angry because they wanted a commitment from the government that their electricity would be reconnected.
“Upon hearing the concerns raised by residents, as eThekwini Municipality we took a decision to intervene urgently on the two challenges which were the reinstallation of electricity and the non-functional ablution facilities”.
He said the appointed officials had identified maintenance issues in the ablution facilities.
“Those issues will be dealt with as from tomorrow (Monday). There will be a team that will be working on that project,” he said.
Ward councillor Xolani Nala said they were relieved by the mayor’s visit.
“The electricity had been affected by the fire last year, and the community has been frustrated since then. We are happy that the mayor attended to our concerns accordingly. The visit was a success, and we will wait and see what happens after this visit.”
A community member said they had been without electricity for a long time: “Among other issues we have, our concern was having to buy candles which are expensive, and paraffin is dangerous. So the safety of the community including our children was at stake. All our issues were discussed and we look forward to them being resolved.”
Kaunda assured residents of the municipality’s commitment to fast-tracking service delivery in the area.
He also urged residents to use proper channels to communicate their grievances.
THE MERCURY
