METRO MATTERS | Has the municipality attended to complaints?

It has been almost a year since Metro Matters was launched, with the newspaper publishing dozens of service delivery complaints from residents who felt let down or ignored by the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality.

The complaints ranged from leaking pipes to blocked drains.

Metro Matters revisited some of the complaints to see if the municipality managed to fix the problems.

Complaint: Leaking manhole

Helenvale residents voiced concerns in January over a manhole that had been leaking for more than three months, also fearing a child could fall into it.

Adding to their woes was an illegal dumping site that continued to grow and pollute the area.

A resident, who referred to himself simply as “Deon”, informed Metro Matters of the problem and said children had to play far from their houses as the areas nearby were filled with rubbish.

“I’ve complained so many times with no reply from municipality,” he said.

Update:

Metro Matters visited Kobus Road last week and several children were seen playing in the manhole.

When contacted, municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki said a reference number was needed to trace the cases and their progress.

Mniki was told that numerous residents had reported the matters and had never been given a reference number.

“The residents need to keep the references when reporting such matters so that it can be easy to trace the case, but we will investigate the matter,” he said.

Complaint: Sewage leaks

In August, Walmer Township residents pleaded for the municipality to do something about ongoing sewage leaks that had flowed into their gardens and homes.

Several families spent two weeks with raw sewage flowing through their homes.

Thozamile Mlalandle, 58, said for years raw sewage had flooded their gardens when a nearby pump station was faulty.

Municipal spokesperson Mamela Ndamase acknowledged the pump station was an issue due to the power failures caused by illegal electricity connections.

“The city is also challenged by constant vandalism to its infrastructure which sometimes causes power outages that affect the pump stations,” she said.

Update:

Days after The Herald contacted the municipality, a team was dispatched to fix the pump station and clean up the sewage.

Complaint: A whole lot of pothole

Morningside residents  voiced their frustration about a pothole that had been left open for more than a year — saying it was an accident waiting to happen.

Ronnie Ludwick reported a water leak in front of his Onyx Road home in 2018 that had taken close to a year to fix.

Though the leak was fixed, the situation caused a further headache as municipal workers dug a hole to sort out the leak, never returning to fix it.

“The problem is, there is a pothole in front of my driveway,” he said.

Mniki said the matter had been transferred to the roads department and would be investigated.

Update:

When Metro Matters visited the street, the hole had still not been fixed.

Complaint: Leaks, leaks, leaks

While people around the world hunkered down to endure lockdowns, a family in Marikana near Chatty have been locked in filth as the flow of raw sewage continues unabated in their yard.

A frustrated Nosipho Qashane, 70, who has been living in the house for years, said the debacle — apparently caused by a blocked pipe outside the property — had started in 2013.

Since then, she said, the family had to contend with a constant stench, as well as raw sewage and pigs entering her property.

Update:

Days after The Herald contacted the municipality, a team was dispatched to the home to fix the pipes.

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