‘Neglected’ villagers vow to boycott election

“The ANC has failed us!” was the common cry at Msobomvu last weekend.

The area is 30km outside East London.

The disgruntled voices were heard at a time when leaders of the ruling party are out in the field, attempting to convince potential voters to give the ANC another chance.

But residents of this village bitterly said they had not tasted much of the fruits of the democratic South Africa.

Many residents of this ANC-led ward 26 made it clear that they would not cast their votes in the May 8 general election. They expressed their views on the weekend when IEC officials attempting to register voters were chased away. Villagers locked the gates outside the registration office.

“The only time they know we exist is when they want our votes. We are done being played fools. They treat us as animals, it’s fine we will behave like animals, but they are not getting our votes,” said Sithembele Velem.

He said neighbouring villages received services.

The Dispatch noted that Msobomvu has no clinic or school and is not wired for power. The only signs of service delivery are pit latrines which were built in 2015 and a pump which provides water from a dam for communal taps.

And that is not much help according to residents, who said the taps were mostly dry as the water pump installed last year went “on and off”.

The nearest clinic, Thembalethu at Nkqonkqweni village, is 10km away.

“What is the point of voting? The government doesn’t care about us,” said Nosandisile Mambinja.

She said ward councillors had done nothing to improve people’s lives. “The current one [Nkuntulana Ncothela] is worse. He does not even want to come here,” she said.

Mambinja said attempts to get the attention of the Buffalo City Metro and the province had failed.

Last week, the villagers marched to the East London City Hall to bring their plight to the attention of the authorities.

A few days later, they demonstrated in their village carrying placards stating “Uphi lo ubetter (where is this better) life for all?”, “No electricity, no vote”, and “We want development in Msobomvu”.

Ward councillor Nkuntulana Ncothela said the reason there was no electricity in the area was because although the ward fell under BCM, the land was still under the administration of the Amathole District Municipality. He said that the process of transferring the land was underway. Ncothela said the water issue was not only affecting Msobomvu village.

“Other villages in the area are experiencing the same problem. We are in the process of changing the water pipes.”