Pretoria - ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba embarked on a campaign trail for the October municipal elections yesterday, while other parties were preoccupied with the by-election contests.
Mashaba interacted with residents in Mabopane Block E on their wide-ranging complaints of service delivery in a bid to woo their vote.
Pensioner Ruth Molope, 64, griped about a high water bill she believed could not be justified by the City of Tshwane.
She told Mashaba her monthly bill ranged from R700 to R1 200 and she was unable to pay it. Molope stays with eight family members in a house built by her late mother in 1973.
“I won’t pay for water while I don’t understand what is happening with the billing system. I’ve never seen anyone coming to take meter readings.”
She said in the past residents were promised their high bills would be scrapped, but that never happened.
“We were told to fill in forms for the cancellation of our water bills. We were disappointed when that never happened. These are things that erode our confidence in the municipality.”
She told the Pretoria News that Mashaba promised he would assist her.
“We know he is here to listen to our service delivery issues because of the coming local government elections.
“However, what we know is that after the municipal elections he will disappear and those problems will not be solved,” Molope said.
Another resident, Disele Mathibe, 68, was troubled by the level of poverty in most households. She said women in the area had identified a piece of land where they could grow vegetables to feed the hungry.
A lack of sport amenities was among the issues she believed were neglected by the government.
Mashaba lamented the fact that the government had failed to improve the lives of the people after 27 years in power.
He told residents he had hope that the future of the country could still be saved, and he was on a mission to fulfil that.
“I can give you a guarantee.
“Give us a mandate in 2024. All the foreigners here illegally will be assessed and those who don’t qualify to be in South Africa will be deported,” he said.
Pretoria News