Press Release by Deon van der Merwe- DA Councillor in Steve Tshwete Local Municipality
Senior Municipal officials in Steve Tshwete are leaking inaccurate information on the breakdown of waste collection service.
This is likely going to cause panic and turn communities against councillors.
The DA will ask the relevant MMC to intervene and ensure that order is restored.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Steve Tshwete calls on the MMC for Arts, Culture and Environmental Health, Bathobile Shabangu, to bring back cohesion within the municipality’s Waste Collection Department and ensure that waste removal trucks operate efficiently.
Yesterday, the DA caucus was informed by a senior municipal official that refuse collection will not be rendered due to notices with intent to suspend some solid waste workers and the constant breakdowns experienced with trucks.
As a result, DA Councillors acted transparently and communicated this message to residents. Subsequent to this, the municipality issued a notice condemning the DA caucus for spreading false information and using it for their own gain.
The DA has always been committed to open and transparent communication to ensure our residents are up to date with activities within the municipality and only share verified information shared by senior officials.
The DA is taken aback by the municipality’s communique and senior officials spreading misleading information. This demonstrates instability and incompetence at a time when residents are frustrated with sub-standard service delivery.
As things stand, the municipality’s waste collection schedule is already unstable. Some parts of the municipality have not been serviced for the past two weeks. Therefore, the spreading of false information to councillors shows that the ANC-EFF coalition disregards the high rates and taxes residents have to pay for these services.
The DA reiterates that municipality’s administration and coalition partners need to urgently engage all relevant stakeholders and find a workable solution that restores full refuse collection services as soon as possible.
The municipality needs to take note of the fact that residents pay rates and taxes with an expectation that basic services will be delivered efficiently, reliably and without interruption.Our communities deserve better than uncertainty and declining service delivery.
We expect the MMC Shabangu to demonstrate the commitment and leadership required to restore confidence in the delivery of essential services. We will not sit back and watch Steve Tshwete residents suffer because of internal squabbles.