Monako Dibetle lives in Mogale City on the West Rand. He took a walk down his streets to find out what friends and neighbours are thinking about the local election.
Matthews Sebe (57) has lived in Kagiso township since the late Eighties and says the problems he complained about 15 years ago are still unresolved.
“People in the municipality spend our budgets on themselves. We vote for them and the next thing they relocate to fancy suburbs, leaving us to suffer alone,” he says of mayor Lentswe Mokgatle and some of the councillors. Sebe is a retired Spoornet worker and his main concerns about the area are its extremely high rates and a lack of jobs.
He says municipal officials and the mayor are useless. “We don’t want Lentswe again here. In the five years he’s been mayor, he’s done absolutely nothing. Him and his people moet voetsek [must get lost].”
Like most young people in the area, university student Obakeng Mabalane (21) believes the youth are neglected. “If you want to be successful, you really got to move to another place because there’s nothing to do in Mogale City,” Mabalane says. He is disappointed that the municipality hasn’t provided sports and recreational facilities. “I feel that the situation contributes to teenage pregnancy and drug abuse among township youngsters.”
Despite these frustrations, Mabalane wants to see the African National Congress re-elected in the hopes that it will bring about more changes.
Two unemployed neighbours, Connie Thipe (47) and Tshi Phofu (42), complain about a constant stream of water as a result of burst water pipes.
“There are also open drainage holes around here and I believe the municipality is waiting for one of our children to fall in and be swept away before they close them,” says Thipe.
She says officials in the municipality are “taking a ride on the gravy train” and says she will vote for any party other than the ANC.
Meanwhile, Phofu believes the township is not well taken care of and says it is a mystery to him why people still vote for the ANC.
“When candidates are campaigning for votes, they don’t have a problem coming into your house, but as soon as they get the votes they don’t know you,” he says.
Phofu says the ANC is his political home, but he will not waste his vote on the party to reinstate Mokgatle as mayor.
Not everyone is critical. Some residents say they can see what the ANC-led municipality has done to improve their lives.
Community leader Charmaine Ntlatlane (26) says the re-election of the ANC is Mogale City’s only hope.
“I want Mokgatle to be given a second chance. He needs to continue with the implementation of the projects that he has already started.” She says people should understand that one term in office is not enough for a mayor to prove himself.
For pensioner Joyce Modise (67), the municipality has brought a lot of changes to the township and her life.
“Ever since Mandela became president, I have never experienced problems with my pension fund and there are changes all over,” she says.
She admits not knowing who Mogale City mayor is, but believes that he is doing a good job in changing people’s lives. “I don’t know who Mokgatle is but I know that all of our streets are now tarred, we get our pension money on time every month and our children go to school.”