Residents who participated in the Makhado Municipality's integrated development plan (IDP) and budget public-participation meeting held at the Makhado Show Grounds last Thursday (6 May), expressed their concerns about the slow progress made with certain projects, as well as being left out of others for the 2021/ 2022 budget.
The main concerns seemed to be focussed on water issues, RDP houses and road projects - the same issues residents had complained about at the 2019 IDP public-participation meeting, which have still not been resolved.
Participants expressed their frustration with the slow progress being made on water projects. Many residents said that they were without water for days at a time, even though the municipality budgeted for water projects year after year.
"In Tshikota the roads are in a very poor condition, and we go for days without water. Some of us are unemployed and struggle to pay our water bills, even though there is no water available. We always see councillors coming in and going out without delivering on their promises," said Martha Mudau, a participant at the meeting. According to her, it often happens that contractors start on projects, and then just never finish them.
Sam Ramanala from New Town wanted to know why some projects appeared on the budget every year, but were never completed.
Tiny Sinthumule from Kutama-Sinthumule, raised several issues. Among them was sports facilities, a park, and a stadium in the Kutama-Sinthumule area. "We would like to know from the mayor why a sports facility for Kutama-Sinthumule is only budgeted for in the 2022/2023 financial year, instead of the 2021/2022 budget. Surprisingly, the budget shows that Waterval has many of its projects included in the 2021/2022 budget," said Sinthumule.
According to the IDP, no projects have been budgeted for Kutama-Sinthumule for the 2021/2022 financial year. An amount of R15m was, however, allocated for their sports facility project for the 2022/2023 financial year, with another R25m for the 2023/2024 financial year.
Four projects are included in the 2021/2022 IDP draft budget for Waterval - the rehabilitation of streets (R7m), the upgrading of the clinic ring road (R1,2m), the upgrading of the cemetery road (R6m) and the refurbishment of the regional office (R2.5m). For 2022/2023, the municipality plans on spending another R14,1m on the rehabilitation of streets.
Mayor Samuel Munyai advised communities again to report to their ward structures, so that their concerns are conveyed to the municipality.