Services grind to a halt

The ongoing political controversy at the Mogalakwena Municipality has taken its toll on service delivery as a number of court interdicts to prevent interference in municipal matters have failed to resolve the dispute among ANC councillors.
The complete breakdown in municipal service dellivery is entering its second week now with refuse piling up on the sidewalks and streets of Mokopane. Ratepayers are saying they have had enough and some say they find it difficult to believe that any authority can undermine a court order.  
But municipal manager (MM), William Kekana and his team say they are not giving up and have again approached the high court after suspended councillor, Thlalefi Andries Mashamaite and his fellow councillors ignored last Wednesday’s court ruling that ordered them off the premises.
On Tuesday the court ruled that Mashemaite and his followers be removed from the council chambers and municipal building and this time added that the National Police commissioner has to bring in the Task Force to assist, should the local police fail to remove the illegal ‘councillors’.
A municipal employee told Northern News that workers are not striking and are therefore not to be blamed for the lack of service delivery. “Workers were instructed by the MM not to return to their work stations until further notice,” the employee said.
The Mokopane Business Chamber on Tuesday expressed its concern over the ‘filthy’ state the town is in and decided to intervene by means of a cleanup operation which was set to start on Wednesday. Businesses and households are urged to coöperate as refuse will be collected daily from 5:00 to 8:00 am and from 16:00 to 19:00 pm.
The clean-up will start in Mokopane’s CBD and will continue until the municipal workers return to work.
The chamber further urges all businesses and households to either take their refuse to the municipal dumping site or to keep it inside their premises.
Consumers are reminded to pay their municipal accounts timeously and are advised to pay a monthly average fee, should access to municipal accounts become a challenge.