Nelspruit neighbourhood team tackles poor maintenance where municipality falls short
AfriForum’s Nelspruit neighbourhood team carried out maintenance work in both Mbombela (Nelspruit) and White River during September due to the Mbombela Local Municipality’s ongoing backlog in maintaining public spaces and infrastructure. The neighbourhood team undertakes projects in Mbombela every month but has also been sprucing up parts of White River in recent months after noticing the extent of the deterioration.
Hugo de Beer, Chairperson of AfriForum’s Nelspruit branch, says the condition of the two areas reflects the consequences of poor service delivery and inadequate maintenance. “Residents pay taxes and should be able to rely on the Municipality to fulfil its responsibilities. Where this does not happen, our neighbourhood team steps in to improve the environment.”
The Nelspruit neighbourhood team therefore tackled the parks in Mbombela, before repairing a total of 15 potholes on Uitkyk Road, collecting 14 bags of litter and four bags of glass in Belladonna Street, and removing a further 20 bags of litter from various parts of the city.
The team also worked with the community organisation The Power of 8000 in White River to remove garden waste at the intersection of Danie Joubert Street and the R40. In addition, the team cut the grass along the road verges in Danie Joubert Street near the White River Rugby Club, cleared the verge in Alie van Bergen Street and cut the grass along approximately 300 metres of road verges from Colts Hill.
“AfriForum’s collaboration with The Power of 8000 enables our neighbourhood team to carry out practical work and help address the maintenance backlog. We will continue to support community initiatives aimed at improving local conditions,” says De Beer.
Municipality remains unwilling to cooperate
Last year, AfriForum approached the Mbombela Local Municipality with a cooperation agreement in an effort to address service delivery problems effectively. Despite these efforts, the Municipality remains unwilling to cooperate with AfriForum. AfriForum believes that cooperation between the Municipality and organised community organisations is essential to improving service delivery.
“We approached the Municipality because we are willing to help find solutions. It is disappointing that there is still no willingness to improve residents’ lives. Meanwhile, the maintenance backlog remains a reality that residents have to live with every day,” adds De Beer.
“Our members’ contributions make it possible for AfriForum’s neighbourhood team to continue its activities, but it is neither sustainable nor acceptable for taxpayers to repeatedly have to pay out of their own pockets to address outstanding municipal maintenance. The Municipality must fulfil its responsibilities and use funds responsibly to deliver services to residents.”
AfriForum will continue to tackle service delivery problems while holding the Municipality accountable for fulfilling its responsibilities.
