Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Cllr Lyle Bouwer and Sesotho soundbite by Cllr Kabelo Moreeng. See attached pictures here, here, here, and here.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Infrastructure in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality (MMM), Cllr Vusi Soqaga, to enforce the proper restoration of municipal sites following urgent repair work.
The DA will monitor and report on incomplete and unsafe sites, demanding immediate corrective action to protect residents from unnecessary hazards as municipal repairs leave environments worse off than how the sites were found.
Findings and reports from residents are evident that the municipality is not making sufficient efforts to adequately restore or rehabilitate sites where work has been carried out, such as those affected by burst pipes, roadworks, and electrical infrastructure.
In many towns and areas in Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality there are visible remnants of the orange barrier nets that once surrounded repair or project sites.
These abandoned areas pose significant safety risks, particularly in the case of deep excavations, and also force pedestrians to walk in busy roadways where the incomplete work is on the pavement. In other cases, there are no barrier safety nets, and these abandoned sites become playgrounds for curious children who find these areas interesting, posing a serious risk to their lives.
The Auditor General (AG) flagged that the MMM was underspending its infrastructure budget, which is the result of substandard workmanship and incomplete projects.
If this ANC-led municipality was serious about governing, these budgets would not only be planned but spent with the consideration of environmental rehabilitation in the affected areas rather than trying to convince the community to accept substandard work as the norm.
We will continue to put pressure on the municipality to ensure that infrastructure projects are completed, meeting adequate standard and that communities are not left to face unnecessary danger due to continued ignorance and negligence, where no oversight is being done after repairs or projects in the metro.