By Selloane Ntshonyane
- Steve Mahumane, 28, of Vlakfontein says his community has waited six to eight months for a broken transformer to be fixed.
- Matshidiso Litolloane, 47, of Pimville says PikiTup misses bin collection for over a week, leaving neighbours to dump waste on open ground.
Steve Mahumane has been waiting eight months for a broken transformer. He pays for electricity every month regardless.
“When there is a problem with a transformer, we can wait for six to eight months,” Mahumane, 28, said.
He said paying for electricity feels pointless when it costs so much and jobs are so hard to find.
In Pimville, Matshidiso Litolloane, 47, waits over a week for PikiTup to collect her bins.
“On days the bins are supposed to be collected, they just don’t come. A week passes without them collecting,” she said.
The delays push neighbours to dump waste on open ground instead. “I feel like we are neglected and taken for granted,” Litolloane said.
She still pays for services every month.
Their complaints come as National Treasury withheld part of the City of Johannesburg’s July funding on 7 July.
Treasury said the move affects 69 municipalities and follows poor financial management, irregular spending, and failures to comply with the Municipal Finance Management Act.
Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero said the city would work with Treasury and fix service delivery.
“The city has also taken steps to address irregular, unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure,” he said.
The South African Local Government Association said rising electricity and water costs have left municipalities unable to meet their obligations, putting municipal consumer debt above R480-billion.
Treasury said municipalities owed Eskom R3.40-billion and water boards R1.21-billion by the end of the 2024/2025 financial year. Municipalities have run up R24.12-billion in fruitless and wasteful expenditure since 2021/22.
Pictured above: Community members clear illegal dumping at a site in Pimville, Soweto.
Image source: Selloane Ntshonyane
