EKURHULENI ward 82 councillor Henry Buitendacht has been granted bail along with four other accused after being arrested on charges of malicious damage to property.
Businessman and founder of HavingStone Group Thando Doyteni filed the charges last week after the councillor allegedly started taking down the poles his company was contracted to install for fibre purposes.
“I am working legally, I have municipal way-leaves. Second, the municipality isn’t paying for the fibre – we are installing it for free. Residents will only be paying for subscription fees, but installation and infrastructure is free,” Doyteni said.
In an eventful week, Buitendacht’s house was torched and he then accused Doyteni of having a hand in his house burning.
Doyteni claims there are high-profile figures in Ekurhuleni and the Gauteng government that have pressurised the matter to favour the councillor, but he wasn’t going to leave it lying down.
“There are powerful people who want the councillor to have me moved from the contract so their preferred contractor is selected,” he said.
The project, which is set to cost around R30 million, will affect Geluksdal, Tsakane and Duduza.
This will affect about 40 000 homes in Ekurhuleni and has been a sore issues for quite some time.
Nhongo Solo who is an independent candidate for the upcoming elections believes that the issues in Geluksdal are about a choice of what type of fibre should be selected.
“It has been a long struggle for whether there should be conventional fibre or Aerial Fibre,” she said.
Solo said the community has decided what type of fibre they would like to have.
“You must understand that there are a lot of unemployed people, there is a lot of poverty and those who accept aerial fibre end up getting employed. They are getting paid because the pole will be in their yards,” he said.
She said that they should look carefully at which one is more sustainable and what the community has to say.
On Wednesday, the community will gather again to have a meeting on which fibre option to choose.
“The mission of these people is to promote their preferred company and take us away using the community. We have completed 50% of the work and they want to bring in a company which has done nothing.”