In an open letter released on social media today, DA activist, Terry-Lee Kleynhans has called out the Executive Mayor of Govan Mbeki Municipality, Thandi Ngxonono.
The Bulletin spoke to Terry-Lee about the letter to find out what the motivation behind the letter was.
“The motivation behind the letter was when I found myself speaking to numerous people on a daily basis about them losing their appliances because the electricity is being switched on and off constantly,” said Terry-Lee.
She continued: “The second reason is because a concerned mother phoned me crying. The mother said that while her child was doing an online test on their desktop computer, the power was cut and her child could not submit the test.”
This is not the first time The Bulletin has heard about appliances burning out and children falling behind in their schoolwork because of the electricity cuts.
“These are obstacles that residents from Bethal, Emzinoni and Embalenhle are facing on a daily basis. Even though Govan Mbeki Municipality has felt that they have given input and that they have produced some sort of solution, they clearly have not.” Terry-Lee continued: Another concern is that their power goes on and off more that 10 times a day. This is putting a lot of strain on the system and also on appliances.”
This is the open letter addressed to the executive mayor:
In an Open letter to EXECUTIVE MAYOR THANDI NGXONONO of Govan Mbeki Municipality
In the midst of a Global Pandemic, residents of Govan Mbeki have found themselves in numerous levels of uncertainty. Not only are they taking upon them a change in lifestyle or concerns due to lack of income they are now facing continues electricity interruptions.
Residents of Bethal, Emzinoni and Embalenhle have been bombarded with load shedding over the past 8 weeks. Which started as 4 hours a day has escalated to 12 hours a day without power. This after our President clearly stated no person will face load shedding during the lockdown. Do we find ourselves in a society and political structure where an Executive Mayor of a Municipality outranks the President of the country? This is troubling, even more so I find it concerning that due to your lack of leadership and commitment to settling GMMs debt you are embarking on only short-term solutions such as disconnecting illegal connections. Should this not have fallen part of your term strategies from day one as Mayor?
Your lack of commitment to your title has left parents seeking for more time to do their children’s online education, grasping for a moment to get their own work done and leaving them with no form of sure deadlines due to inconsistent load shedding. You have managed to single handily target thousands of households and forced them to take alternative and unorthodox measures to ensure they stay afloat.
If it were the residents that were at the mainstream of your priorities you would have been interacting with the community on available platforms, instead you are busy with gerrymandering for the upcoming 2021 Local Elections. Yet the only time we see you in the media is when you are accepting donations or launching some new project that never gets completed with funds that are non-existent.
The time to take action was 8 weeks ago when a pandemic started and communities were left in the dark with what the future holds and now, they find this to be a literal notion too. Step out of your luxurious car and answer the people of Govan Mbeki Municipality, follow through and take measures to rectify what you and your managers have allowed over the past 2 years. If not, do the noble thing and step down so we can appoint a Mayor with more backbone than a jellyfish. The residents deserve this.
Regards
Terry-Lee Kleynhans
Let us hope that the residents call for help will be heard now.
