SIX YEARS, US$5.2M SPENT AND STILL NO ELECTRICITY IN MAKHABELENI, SOUTH AFRICA

The constant failure to deliver on it’s promise is one major factor affecting infrastructure development in Africa. Makhabeleni residents has endure so much over the past 6years just because of such failed promise.

Six years and US$5.2m spent so far but still no sign of any electricity infrastructure within the region.

The project which began in 2014 was put to halt at various times in wards 6, 12 and 14. These made areas like Ndimakude, Mhlabathini and Mvusane still left with electrical poles and cables lying on the ground as well as open trenches.

Meanwhile, Ward 6 Councillor Sandile Xulu of Makhabeleni in rural northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) said “I guess people are looking for someone to blame. That i have been accused of squandering money and hindering the progress of the project, but that is far from the truth”.

However, Simayedwa Masikane a resident of Ndimakude, said, “Some people pay R500 or more for firewood, and we don’t have money. If it was another community, people would be protesting but we are patient.”

Umvoti Municipality spokesperson Phindile Phungula confirmed that the municipality is the implementing agent for the project, and that the KZN Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) was funding it.

Source: GroundUp

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