“This area is rich with everything, firms, the Vaal River (tourisms), history, everything and yet it seems like we are in the ‘bundus’.”
SEDIBENG. – One cannot believe that it seems like many moons ago that the Sedibeng region (formerly Vaal) used to be an envy for many, yet today the beloved Vaal is a shadow of its former self.
If it is not electricity that gets cut off at will, and transformers that get burned out, it is sewerage that is following into our houses and streets, potholes that are as huge as mining fields, and then finally you get rubbish that is not collected for months leaving communities at the risk of ill health. Many residents have resorted to not paying their rates and taxes because of this and many other issues.
The rate of unemployment in Sedibeng is proclaimed to have reached its climax particularly amongst the youth who are left to idle. From Sharpeville to Boipatong, Sebokeng to Evaton the situation is the same. Many have even promised not to go to the local government elections later this year, a threat that has been made before without implementation.
“What do you think we should go there and do. Look at the state of our region, particularly our townships and tell me that there is any valid reason for us to go and vote. Those that are in power are only looking out for themselves and their kin. What is there to vote for,” asks a resident who is obviously dejected.
While the elderly cry of the current situation of life in Sedibeng compared to the past, the youth cry of a lack of opportunities from the powers that be. They say that even though they try with all their might to come up with programmes to better their lives, they just keep on hitting ‘brick walls’.
The Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) has on several times encouraged the residents to pay their rates and taxes so that more and more, improved services delivery, can be provided but taking into consideration the high number of unemployment, this is a futile exercise.
The ELM has also on numerous occasions decried what it terms the old ‘apartheid’ infrastructure that it has inherited for its predecessors.
The municipality is currently under administration which makes its ‘hands tied up’ when it comes to certain projects that are administered from the provincial offices.
Vaal is very much rich in history, the Sharpeville Massacre, the Boipatong Massacre, the towns of Vereeniging and Vanderbijlpark to mention but a few, bear truth to this statement, but seems only to apply in books only. The Vaal River itself remains polluted by raw sewerage.
Many residents blame the change of leadership, or lack thereof, in the area, for the current state.
“ We cannot have a leader today and then tomorrow he is gone, once someone tries to come up with corrective measures for the mess that is in this area, another one makes sure that they are removed. So when do you think this will end it will never end. We are a laughingstock to many areas of the country. This area is rich with everything, firms, the Vaal River (tourisms), history, everything and yet it seems like we are in the ‘bundus’,” another resident said.