Durban – Members of Black First Land First in ward 45 in Lindelani, Ntuzuma, in the north of Durban say that they want change in the severely underdeveloped and crime ridden township and have called for police intervention in the spiralling murder rate in the area.
Speaking to Independent Media outside the Thandolwesizwe Secondary School voting station in Lindelani, members of the BLF painted a bleak picture of the living conditions of people in the area.
The BLF is among parties contesting the ANC-run ward in which they have accused councillors of lining their own pockets instead of prioritising service delivery.
Mandla Manqele, councillor candidate for BLF in ward 45, said that they had set their sights on changing the impoverished conditions that the community had lived under since the dawn of democracy 27 years ago.
"We are pleading with the community to help us change this life we are living because right now we don't have toilets, we don't have houses, we don't have roads, we don't have running water and we don't have electricity. There are old people in the area who are physically disabled and don't have wheelchairs, they don't have transport for their children to school and the children in the area also don't have uniforms," Manqele said.
Muzomusha Michael Gumede, chairperson of the BLF in ward 45, said that another major problem facing the community was rampant crime, despite there being a police station within the ward.
"Many people have been killed here, but the suspects are never apprehended and that's what councillors should be intervening in. There are many women who have died, shot inside their homes and that's something we condemn. I don't even want to begin with the issue of service delivery and infrastructure because we don't have anything here, we are stranded on an island and I don't know whether it's because it's Lindelani or what, but here in Lindelani nothing happens, people enrich themselves. We always get councillors from other areas, they come here and misuse the money and we get nothing, yet we live in shacks with leaking roofs, there are no toilets and we relieve ourselves in the open," Gumede.
Bonginkosi Xulu, deputy chairperson in ward 45 and youth leader, lamented the lack of job opportunities for the youth.
"The youth end up going astray and being labelled with all manner of names because the leaders don't take care of the youth.These leaders are all about enriching themselves yet the youth don't get what they need. There are many educated young people here, graduates, but they end up going astray because they aren't being employed anywhere," Xulu said.
IOL