Durban — Despite the eThekwini Municipality assuring residents that services would be back to normal and workers could head to work safely after the strike, several areas of the metro reported that workers were still being threatened and services had not returned.
eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda addressed the public on the Service Delivery Recovery Plan on Wednesday, following the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) strike that has crippled service delivery across the city.
Following Wednesday’s protest in Phoenix, Westham resident Randy Bharath, who was at the protest, said: “We were told by the police that they had contacted the municipality to deploy a TLB for the underground cable. To date, we still have no electricity. On our group chat, one of the districts said that repairs had been carried out, and now we wait.”
He said a message that circulated on the group chat read: “Dear residents of ward 52, the repairs to the cable affecting Westham and Lenham have been completed. The department has allocated the switching officer to switch on the substations (which will take a while). They will also check the power to be strong enough to supply for Redfern. I wonder what time that will be.”
Bharath said in some districts, the lights went out within a day of repairs being done.
“The residents are basically complaining that they are expected to believe that areas are being addressed but they are truly not.”
Bharath said he was concerned that their situation wasn’t being taken seriously by the national government.
He said that if a small district like Unit 12 in Phoenix could cause a national uproar like this, what would happen if it grew greater?
He said that in the past, road inspectors would do maintenance.
“Everything in this country is a temporary repair. The only way forward is to get rid of the rot – from the top. We need to employ young minds with fresh ideas and get rid of the pensioners,” he said.
Bluff Ratepayers & Residents’ Association (BRRA) vice-chairperson Allison Schoeman said things weren’t back to normal in the area.
“The staff are attempting to work, but they are still limited and being threatened. Regarding the waste collection, the Tara Road garden refuse site was still closed and there were no mop-up/clean-up operations.
“There was one refuse truck that appeared this morning (yesterday) at 8.41am in Stableford Road on the Bluff, and as soon as it was full, it left. It is important to note that the trucks can’t operate without the metro police’s protection.”
She said it was a grave concern that metro police were being diverted from law enforcement to waste collection.
In terms of electricity, she said that on Monday, there was a power outage at around 4pm in Oceanview, but power was restored in 30 minutes. She praised the electricity department for its quick response.
“Water outages are still a problem. As of Wednesday morning, residents in Lloyd Avenue were still complaining about lack of water. This area has been problematic for a while. The water infrastructure here is old. When there’s a breakage, they join the PVC piping to the asbestos pipe so that water services can be restored. The issue is they need to have a proper assessment. To date, we haven’t received that commitment from the Department of Water and Sanitation,” Schoeman said.
She said that repair work that had begun at Sloane Road Sewage Pump Station couldn’t be completed because of the strike and sewage was now flowing into the sea.
Westville Ratepayers’ Association deputy chairperson Rose Cortes said things were not back to normal.
“The strike is still ongoing. When the announcement was made, the City said 80% of the facilities had been restored, but from my point of view, that isn’t true. The guys from New Germany depot were still threatened when they attempted to deploy for their Wednesday collection route,” she said.
“Nothing has changed in regards to water and electricity. In one community in Overport, water was restored but electricity went down. Those that are working are very scared.”
Ward 35 councillor Nicole Bollman echoed Cortes’s sentiments, saying the situation had not returned to normal.
She said there were delays in collecting refuse.
“The North Central depot (based in Newlands) seems to be experiencing an issue. Delay in activity and communication. I think people are frightened and officials are working in dangerous environments.”
eThekwini employees affiliated to Samwu downed tools on February 27 in protest over wages. This affected waste collection and water and electricity supply city-wide. They have since been ordered to return to work.
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