COUNCILLORS could find themselves out of work if they continue to ignore community issues, President said after a surprise visit to Madela Kufa Section 2 township in Tembisa yesterday, where angry residents have staged protests over service delivery failures.
The settlement, where xenophobic violence occurred last year, was established in 1992 yet residents are still using pit toilets, have no electricity and are sharing one tap.
Zuma said the fact that councillors were not addressing these problems almost 20 years after the informal settlement came into being, was a “serious problem”. He said he planned to raise this matter with the African National Congress (ANC) provincially and regionally.
“I will report what these people say about the performance of their councillors and the leaders will know what to do. Those who are not working have no reason to remain in position,” he said.
Zuma, accompanied by ANC spokeswoman Jessie Duarte and former safety and security minister , also met Tembisa station commander George Manganya yesterday to discuss concern about the area’s high crime rate, and residents’ unhappiness about the poor relationship between police and their community policing unit.
In the latest police statistics — 2008-09 — Tembisa was listed among the top 20 stations countrywide for car hijacking and residential robbery. Zuma said Manganya believed crime in the informal settlements could be greatly reduced with proper lighting. “He believes development of the squatter camps could also decrease crime,” Zuma told the media after the meeting.
Zuma said the establishment of a satellite police station was also being considered in the area, as were the provision of police vehicles equipped for offroad driving because of the poor roads . “The commander says he has enough staff and he showed us statistics which show crime has gone down a bit, although housebreaking seems to have increased and murders are still occurring.”
Collet Lephalala, a resident of Madela Kufa Section 2 since 1992, said they had been made many promises by the government but they still did not have proper toilets, safe drinking water or houses. The only tap in the area is situated next to a pile of rubbish and children have been bitten by rats, which apparently flourish in the area.
chantelleb@bdfm.co.za