Between potholes and hard places: tired of broken promises, residents go it alone

Communities and NGOs, long past waiting to realise the dreams they had in 1994 when they put their first crosses on ballot papers, are taking matters into their own hands.

People such as Isaac Mofokeng, who founded the Itireleng Task Team during lockdown when he and fellow community members found themselves without work. 

Boipatong in Vanderbijlpark has, for many years, been overflowing with sewage. The township is on the Vaal River, where the wastewater treatment plant is broken. The pressure from sewage backing up at the treatment pump flows back into residents’ pipes, which have not been maintained by the flailing Emfuleni municipality. The result is a constant stream of effluent in homes, roads and even the local police station.

Mofokeng was disturbed by watching pupils and the elderly having to wade through the effluent so he and 10 others built barriers to divert sewage from the streets. They also cleaned up dumping sites, creating gardens where children could play.

Meanwhile, tired of crime in Delta Park, Johannesburg, Jozi Trails partnered with Johannesburg City Parks & Zoo last month to create Trail Guardians. 

The group of volunteers walks the spruit every day from 6.30am to 8am and 4pm to 6pm with panic buttons linked to local security companies.

David Kramer, Jozi Trails general manager, said the NGO manages a 37km stretch from the end of Rivonia on the N1 to Emmerentia. It mows the lawn and builds bridges to ensure the land can be enjoyed by the community. 

Kramer said 70,000 people visited the site every month, but recent muggings had seen that number drop.

“There are a surprising number of women who walk on their own and we were receiving increasing reports of attacks on cyclists. 

“Now, if an incident does occur, the guardians will activate the button which will immediately summon a response car.”

The Panorama Residents’ Association in Roodepoort has been in operation for four years, but recently, according to chair Dave Baxter, it has stepped up its mission to assess the needs of the community and act on them. 

Funded by a R250 annual membership fee from about 1,000 people and donations from local businesses, the members’ recent work includes filling potholes, cutting verges, public safety awareness, fixing street lights and everything in between.

Last week, with the help of Johannesburg Water, residents located and excavated fire hydrants (often hidden under soil build-up), had them tested and then painted them according to specifications so they can be easily found.

“We got tired of reporting issues like potholes and getting no response so we took matters into our own hands. We’ve long since realised that government will not come to our aid — we are an apolitical organisation which believes that instead of complaining we should do something to make our community better. If you see litter, pick it up. We can’t be armchair warriors. And you’ll be amazed just how far we can stretch that R250 a year.”

Baxter believes simple things such as cutting grass so criminals cannot hide in it have helped lower the area’s crime rate and said 75% of crimes occur in areas where residents are not members of the association.  

For Rev David Dinkebogile, chairperson of the Centre for the Aged in Sharpeville, safety and food security spurred him to establish an elderly luncheon club 22 years ago. 

The Anglican priest noticed that women, especially in the township, were living longer than their savings and many relied on the kindness of villagers and food donations from other NGOs. 

The lunch club provides the elderly with a meal each day and a safe space where they can sit together and feel part of the community.

But Dinkebogile said this inadvertently raised another issue.

“Our elderly are the ones who look after grandchildren so we, with the Sharpeville Trust, raised money for a container creche. This became an aftercare and we have also raised money to put these children through school and even university. Education is important in alleviating the cycle of poverty.”

Residents of Koster and Swartruggens, represented by the Kgetlengrivier Ratepayers’ Association, took over the water and sewerage services from the Kgetlengrivier local municipality in January.

This after a North West High Court ruling on December 18 that the municipality had failed to supply potable water to its residents whose taps constantly ran dry. The wastewater works were also in a state of disrepair after mismanagement by the municipality.

A strike over pay caused the taps to run dry for days, leaving residents — fed up after years of poor service delivery — with no choice but to turn to the courts for assistance. The municipality was given 10 weeks to clean up sewage in the Elands and Koster rivers, and ensure both towns had clean, running water. This did not transpire and the residents took over, repairing the sewerage works at their own cost.

In January last year the Unemployed People’s Movement (UPM) took the Makana municipality to court and won a case to have the municipality dissolved and placed under administration. The organisation accused Makana municipality of corruption, failure to provide water and sewerage services, and seriously neglecting municipal infrastructure, leaving roads filled with potholes and rubbish.

The court ruled that the municipality violated its constitutional mandate by failing to provide basic services to the community. The court appointed an administrator to manage the municipality’s affairs.

UPM’s chair, Vuyani Zondani, told the court the organisation was authorised by its constitution to “take the necessary steps to prevent poor people from suffering the worst effects of unemployment, poverty, starvation, homelessness and similar social ills”.