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Township in flames to end darkness
Walmer Township residents protesting on Monday. PHOTO:NCEBA DLADLA
NCEBA DLADLA
A
BOUT a hundred Walmer Township residents on Monday again blockaded an entrance to the township on the corner of Heugh Road and 9th Avenue by burning tyres and toyi-toying in demand for electricity. They said it had been three months since the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality disconnected their lights and left them in the dark while they paid for service charges, water and sanitation. “It’s been three months that we haven’t had electricity. Imagine being in the darkness in this cold winter. The transformer has been cut
off,” said Evelyn Xashimba (56) a very angry resident. Xashimba grew up in this township but still did not have a house she could call her own. She accused the metro municipality of making her life in the shack a misery. “I was forced to take my children to a relative outside of Port Elizabeth as a result of being without electricity,” she said, adding that local schools and creches were as well adversely affected. The residents blamed the ANC-led government for abandoning them - now that the elections were over. “We are not going to move from here. We’ll close this entry until they give us an answer. When are we going to get lights and get our lives
back,” said a resident. “Our mayor, including his council, does not care. We are being robbed at night because it’s dark. The elderly, especially women, become victims of crime when they go to the bush to fetch wood to make fire. We are fighting against one another now - bayasixabanisa!” said another resident. The residents say that they had bought food for the month, which had become rotten. They could not iron their clothing and their bosses did not understand when they came late for work. Municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki said the Walmer township issues were being dealt with holistically, and on a short, medium and long-term basis.
Mniki said they were fixing, replacing and maintaining the transformers in the area, in the short term. “However, we continue to oppose illegal connections as they are making our attempts fail,” said Mniki calling for patriotism and active citizenry from residents when dealing with the issue of illegal connections. This he added, was the major challenge facing the metro. “On a medium term we will be relocating the people who are qualifying for subsidy housing and staying in shacks that are not serviced and zoned as the municipality has sourced land with the zoning plans already approved by the community that is set to benefit,” he said. He added that the municipality cannot install legal electricity in shacks that are not serviced and zoned.
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