Service delivery in Tshwane collapsing while ANC administrators sit idle and draw salaries

19 July 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is appalled that despite the Tshwane Council being illegally dissolved for more than three months there has been no attempt by the unlawful ANC-imposed administrators to ensure that there is any mechanism to facilitate feedback from residents in the city.

Instead, the administrators have causally benefitted from the community work that is still being done by DA representatives while they fight to ensure that they are reinstated as councillors.

DA representatives from across the city have continued supporting residents in escalating their complaints to the city and attempting to resolve issues through official channels leveraging the relationships that they have built over the years.

All this is being done while the administrators are idling drawing salaries, ignoring emails and at times not even coming into the office.

To date, two administrators have resigned from the city.

It has reached the point where core municipal services are collapsing and the administrators in question must start being held directly accountable.

Administrators Lesedi Mere and Rianda Kruger for instance are supposed to be providing direction over the finance department.

Yet it seems they are clueless in addressing the escalating billing crisis that has emerged while they have been in office.

Residents from across the city are either not receiving their bills or receiving highly inflated bills without any recourse.

Based on engagements with various associations and professional law firms the DA estimates that the rates clearance backlog could be as high as 5000.

That is 5 000 households that are not able to sell, buy and move their homes due to city bureaucracy.

Mr. Mere is also tasked with directing City Planning and yet there has been absolutely no progress that has been made on opening up building control and core city planning offices which are essentially crippling development in the city.

Lefadi Makibinyane is tasked with directing the Regional Operations Centre and Utility Services  which are crucial frontline service delivery departments.

Yet it appears he has simply abandoned his duties, as whole neighborhoods sit without power.

In Leeuwfontein, residents have been without power for 15 days due to the administrators’ failure to ensure that a new T4 transformer and cable are installed in the area.

DA representatives have been attempting to assist while Mr.Makibinyane is nowhere to be seen.

There are pipe bursts that the DA is tracking that have taken over 5 days to repair.

Similarly, residents of Mooikloof, East Lynne, Lindopark and parts of Mamelodi West have had no power for more than three days.

It is a disgrace.

The DA raised these service delivery response failures weeks back expecting that they would be resolved.

In fact it has become gradually worse with backlogs growing and increasing service delivery failures.

Where are these administrators and what are they doing?

They are not even bothering to communicate on these issues.

There are no strategies and zero effort is being made to address the rates clearance backlogs, building plan delays and the billing crisis.

If they are not able to ensure that the city is responsive then it is high time they are held directly to account.

Going forward DA representatives will ensure that residents are able to contact them personally so that they can appreciate the frustrations that are taking place in the city.

Issued by Randall Williams, DA Tshwane Mayoral Candidate, 19 July 2020