Phindile Mbele was promised a house, a job and counselling when her eight-year-old child, Musa, drowned in a local river fetching water but none has materialised.
Musa drowned early this year as Phuthaditjhaba, Free Sate, was experiencing water crisis and other basic service delivery .
Some of the disgruntled residents voted against the governing ANC and opted for MAP16 in last week’s local government elections.
MAP 16 is a civic organisation that was established in 2019 when 16 ANC councillors were fired from Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality for speaking against corruption and maladministration.
ANC failed to get 35 seats to run the municipality. It got 28 seats, while MAP 16 garnered 26 seats, the EFF seven, DA five, Dikwankwetla Party of SA (DPSA) three , Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s African Content Movement two and other small parties got one seat each.
Mbele, 38, who recently moved into a two-roomed shack in White City village, told Sowetan she was tired of empty promises.
“I hope that MAP16 will bring much-needed change. In August, I was told that I was one of the people who will start working at the water purification project in September. I was excited as that meant I will be able to buy food and Christmas clothes for my children. September came with no word from municipal officials. Instead, I had ANC people coming here to make more empty promises,” she said.
Mbele survives on her children’s government grant, which barely last throughout the month.
“Since the drowning of my child, nothing has changed. We still go for weeks without water. My other child, who was with Musa when she drowned, was promised counselling but that never happened,” she said.
In Slovo Park, Moroesi Lali, 38, said she was not surprised that people had voted against the ANC.
“My mother used to work for Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality. In 2018, she became gravely ill and we rushed her to a private hospital. I was shocked when I was told that her medical aid had lapsed. This was though in all her payslips it showed that she was paying for the medical aid,” Lali said.
Daniel Mosoenyane, 46, said there were three dams servicing the municipality.
“It’s really confusing to hear people talking about drought in our municipality. We have no roads. Every corner has a burst water pipe that needs to be fixed. It is no use to buy food and fill up the fridge because the electricity is always off. At this stage our hopes are with MAP 16,” he said.
MAP 16 coordinator Azael Nhlapo said they appreciated the votes from the people of Maluti-a-Phofung.
“It was in August 2019 when people placed their hopes in us after we reported to them why we were fired. The community took a conscious decision for us to start a civic organisation,” he said.
Nhlapo said people showed their support during the municipal by-elections when they won 10 out of 15 wards.
“The majority of all the parties are for MAP16 and are totally against the ANC. We have also made it clear that our coalition is strictly about service delivery,” he said.
Nhlapo said they will work on basic service delivery like having water delivered to the people, fixing roads and the sanitation system.
“There are seven sewer plants in this municipality and two of those are dilapidated, which sees sewer going to the river. We will also conduct a skills audit so that people can be able to deliver basic services to the people,” he said.
DPSA leader Moeketsi Lebesa said his party was going to be part of the coalition only if partners committed to clean and efficient local government.
“The coalition partners must adopt a practical and cost-effective plan that will address littering, sewer spillage, disintegrating road networks, electricity problems, water crisis and labour disputes,” he said.
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