The concerned residents of Mpheni Ha-Makhakhi Vhutuwangadzebu village in the Waterval area came out in large numbers to protest against poor service delivery by the Makhado Municipality some two weeks ago.

It was during this march that community members submitted their memorandum with all the concerns the community is faced with to the municipality. The grievances include the lack of water and electricity. The residents also complained about the fact that the municipality ignores their concerns, no matter how often these are voiced.

“It has been 15 years since the new political dispensation, but nothing much has been done in our area with regard to service delivery,” residents complained. They added that the municipality had been promising them better service delivery, but to no avail. “In the year 2000, we were told to pay the electricity connection fee of R150. During this time, Mr Laurence Munungufhala was still a councillor in our village. We also met several times with the municipality´s former director of technical services, Mr Masindi Mapholi, but he kept on giving us empty promises,” one of the residents explained.

Another angry resident, Mrs Kutama Manenhze, added that no-one seemed to take their grievances seriously. “We are tired of empty promises. How many mayors came and went while our problems were being ignored? We need someone who is serious about finding solutions,” she said. According to her, they have attended numerous integrated development Programme (IDP) meetings for the Makhado Municipality, where electricity to the area was highlighted as a priority, but nothing materialised.

Mirror also learnt during the march that water was also one of the challenges the community members of Mpheni are faced with. Community members were displaying placards saying, “What is democracy in fifteen years without basic services such as electricity and water?”

The head of the portfolio committee, Cllr David Mutavhatsindi, accepted the memorandum on behalf of the municipality. He told the angry villagers that their problems would be attended to and said he was sure that the problems would soon be solved. “There is nothing to worry about. We are going to sit down as a municipality and see what to do, but I am sure that your problems will be resolved,” he said.