Pretoria - Angry residents in Mabopane Block C have threatened to take to the streets today should the City of Tshwane fail to provide them with water after their taps ran dry two weeks ago, when its South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) workforce went on strike.
Last week, frustrated residents blockaded the streets with rocks, forcing traffic to come to a standstill.
Yesterday, they vowed to embark on another protest after they did not receive a positive response from authorities, except a plea from the City to remain patient as they were not the only residents affected by service delivery interruptions.
Community representative Glen Nafogi said numerous attempts to get the attention of the municipality were in vain.
“Nothing is happening. We are waiting for a response from the municipality.
“We are thinking of going back to the street tomorrow if by end of today (yesterday) we have still not received a positive response. We will have no other choice but to shut down the streets.”
Nafogi said a good Samaritan brought a tanker to supply water to residents.
He lashed out at the recent utterances by mayor Cilliers Brink that service disruptions affected many parts of the municipality, and that many councillors were grappling with the problem.
Brink said municipal employees who wanted to work were intimidated by their striking colleagues to attend to service delivery complaints.
Nafogi said: “When they are going out there to switch off lights they hire private contractors, and the police are escorting them. And now, when we are so desperate, they can’t tell us they can’t send a private person to fix a leaking pipe?”
Some residents said the water shortage affected schooling activities, as pupils were forced to go home early.
Brink recently pleaded for patience from many communities experiencing a disruption of services.
“There has also been a disruption of waste collection, and for those who still don’t know what is going on there is an unprotected strike in the City of Tshwane.
“It is not that some officials refuse to work, it is that many are intimidating their colleagues violently, and preventing them from delivering services. There has also been interference with private contractors of the City,” he said.
Pretoria News