City of Cape Town’s MMC for Finance Siseko Mbandezi says township residents must look after their infrastructure as it is for their benefit.
He says this while talking about rampant vandalism that normally occurs in township infrastructure as opposed to suburbs. Mbandezi said this during an event organised by Freedom SA in Site C last weekend.
Mbandezi said the City has forked out billions of rands rolling broadband around the metro in the past few years but such infrastructure is vandalised.
“Communities have equal responsibilities to protect their infrastructure. We cannot have that in Durbanville the infrastructure is not vandalised and stolen but in Khayelitsha it is stolen and vandalised.
“I don’t believe that it is someone from Philippi who came and still vandalised infrastructure in Site C, it is someone from here who is still in your area. That’s why I’m saying communities have equal responsibility to protect the resources that the government has rolled out for the betterment of the community,” said Mbandezi.
Residents from Site C have been recently struggling with sewerage eruptions on their streets. Even vendors who sell close to Govan Mbeki Road had to move because the dam of sewerage kept on growing and chased away their customers.
“There are shacks that are on top of sewer pipes around here, but people refuse to move. It is shacks that are less than 20 that must move but people are risking diarrhea,” he said.
Speaking to Ezitshisayo, resident Nolizwi Mtshizana(36) said Mbandezi has a point. “People steal drain covers in broad-daylight, but no one stops them. Sometimes I don’t blame them because people fear for their lives. People get killed for no reason here so people are even scared to stop vandals or even to report them because it’s dangerous for their lives,” she said.
