The Democratic Alliance (DA) hopes that the shock factor will kickstart Khai-Ma municipality back into getting basic maintenance of service delivery equipment up and running again by forcing Council to experience first-hand just how badly the municipal workshop has fallen into disrepair.
A dire lack of management and security at the Khai-Ma municipal workshop in Pofadder is threatening the little bit of service delivery that is left. This was exposed during a recent oversight inspection to the facility, that looks more like a scrapyard than a workshop.
There is no access control to the workshop and parts are being stripped from machinery, while other equipment is allowed to fall into disrepair. There is also no sense of order or indication that any work gets done in the workshop.
There is only one water truck in Khai-Ma which is non-operational and no fire truck. Firefighting cannot happen if a truck is not sent from Aggeneys or Gamsberg. The tractor that is meant to compact the refuse at the dumps has been broken for more than a year. Roads are in disrepair. There is just one truck in operation to clean drains, while residents complain daily of sewage spills that poses serious health risks to the community. Garbage is also strewn all over the place, as refuse collection does not take place due to non-operational refuse removal trucks.
The DA will submit a motion for tabling during the next council meeting, whereby I will move that all councillors, together with municipal management, embark on a joint oversight to the workshop. Maybe if they can see for themselves what is, and is not happening, they will feel a greater need to rectify this unsustainable and unacceptable situation.
This is the start of a campaign in Khai-Ma to hold the municipality accountable and to get it working again, the failure of which could spell the total collapse of service delivery in Pofadder and its surrounds.