The Eastern Cape community of Cebe village in Centane is threatening to boycott voter registration this weekend. Disgruntled residents complain about the lack of service delivery and accuse government of neglecting their needs.
The residents under Ward 27 of Mnquma local municipality have a list of grievances ranging from poor access to roads, collapsed bridges, water scarcity and lack of health facilities. Community leader, Mzolisi Madikane says engagements – with both local and provincial authorities were a fruitless exercise.
“We felt that the only weapon we have as the community of these poor people here is to direct government to say we are not going to be able to vote. We are also not going to register this coming weekend. And this is the decision that the community of Cebe has taken because of number of reasons. One of the reasons is that we don’t have the proper infrastructure, we don’t have roads, we don’t have a bridge. The bridge was broken down and to date we’ve been sent from pillar to post.”
Access to health care
To access health care services, locals must travel for kilometers to the Tafalofefe Hospital, which is quite a distance from their houses.
“Water scarcity is a problem here in Cebe because there are no taps here. We are drinking water with cattle. There’s no safe water here. There’s no clinic for prevention of children and old age. Also me, I’m an old pensioner but I use to travel by R100 to Tafalofefe because there’s no clinic here.”
“We just want a clinic. That’s all. Whether we vote or not, but we want a clinic that government promised us. We don’t know how voting assists us but we do vote and we’ve never missed a chance to vote.”
Youth unemployment
The young people in the village, complain about youth unemployment, teenage pregnancy, with the rising crime levels also a huge concern. A 32-year-old unemployed Fanelwa Tolom, is feeling neglected.
“Service delivery is non-existent here at Cebe. Under aged girls get pregnant here because there’s no one to guide them. some young girls get pregnant through rape. We want a clinic here with nurses and social workers so that they can give guidance to these girls by assisting them with family planning. We don’t have a police station here. We must go to town when we need police services. Police don’t come when we need them.”
The Mnquma local municipality has promised to send the residents complaints to the relevant departments.
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