The condition of this road is horrendous, with a mixture of rubble, chipped bricks, stone and what seems like sewage makes for a mixture of concern. Unwary motorists could easily cause great damage to their vehicle if not alert.

“The Executive Mayor of MLM has been on Community radio stations several time explaining load reductions, and it also forms part of State of Municipal Address which was streamed live on the Municipal Facebook page, and simulcasted in community radio stations. No one said the load reductions is permanent solution.

Like a frog in a pot of slowly heating water, criminal elements coax more and more from MLM with each passing day, and the lack of maintenance to infrastructure makes it a walk in the park. Scenes such as this one in Erica Avenue is commonplace, with more and more substation doors, coverings, wiring and internals making a miraculous disappearance with each passing day.

The jagged edges of the protruding broken bricks that have been placed in the potholes pose an imminent danger to your vehicle’s tyres and sidewalls.

. According to MLM, the construction of top structures of the above projects were underway at the time of enquiry, which was June 2019. Alas, the fiery enthusiasm shown by the DPWRT in 2019, has fizzled in fantastic fashion, and the construction site now has transformed to a refuse dump. Enquiries to the DPWRT have yielded no results, and the status of the project is unknown at this time.

Daar vind tot ses onderbrekings per dag in Bethal plaas. Tydens 'n aanlyn-portefeuljekomiteevergadering oor die aangeleentheid, het verteenwoordigers van Eskom gesê dat hulle weens uitstaande skuld van R1.7 miljard van Govan Mbeki Munisipaliteit, nie bereid is om die uitset van die substasie te verhoog nie.

Feeble excuses such as suspiciously incessant alleged cable faults on the 88kVA line, random system overloads, illegal connections and a myriad of other nonsensical explanations for inefficient service delivery on the part of the municipality only elongates the noose that MLM hands itself.

“Digitalization of the system will produce better, efficient and quicker results and lessen the time spent by individuals at these centers. That will also ease our headaches, that there won’t be any contamination of COVID-19 at all our premises. Fortunately, licensing departments, including examiner now fall directly under my department. We will fix all the underlying problems.”

According to MLM spokesman, Mr. Zwane, MLM emphasizes that residents should use electricity sparingly to avoid overloading of the 88kV-substation by switching of all non-essential electric appliances from 17:00 to 21:00. Scores of residents have scoffed at this notion, as to many it appears to be an illogical request to expect residents to switch off appliances during peak time. Many have also questioned the fact that the apparently serenely constrained electrical network miraculously recovers after the “peak times” stated by MLM.

After years of sewage spillage, and a barrage of endless complaints, Msukaligwa Local Municipality (MLM) has taken it upon themselves to unblock and repair the disheveled sewerage network opposite Oosthuizen Street. In this week’s update on the progress of the project, the MLM communication department simply stated that “the installation of new sewer pipeline near Global Filling Station is progressing very well”.

The relevant department has, however, failed to replace or reinstall the hydrant in its place of origin, instead opting to leave the worksite as it, not even returning the paving stones to its place. Ironically, the now defunct hydrant is but a few hundred meters away from the fire brigade’s building.