Infrastructure failures and rising crime: Richards Bay’s call for help

‘WE ARE LOSING OUR BEAUTIFUL TOWN’

- MONISHKA GOVENDER [e-mail]

ILLEGAL dumping. VANDALISED municipal utilities.

RESIDENTS of Richards Bay are raising urgent concerns over deteriorating infrastructure, environmental degradation and rising crime, calling for immediate intervention from the uMhlathuze Local Municipality and national government.

Together with the Concerned Residents Civic Association (CRCA), they said years of poor maintenance, rapid population pressures and increasing vandalism had pushed key services such as water supply, electricity infrastructure and environmental management to a breaking point.

CRCA founding director Jéan Gerber said the city’s ageing water infrastructure had been neglected for more than a decade, and placed several pump stations under significant pressure.

He said at a CRCA public meeting last month, deputy mayor Christo Botha had introduced a contractor tasked with resolving the problem, to them.

“Joffie Visser, the owner of Samco Pumps, has been awarded the contract to fix the pump stations and to fix the poor water pressure Richards Bay is experiencing,” Gerber said.

He added that suburbs such as Birdswood and Meerensee had been hardest hit.

Gerber said the city was now awaiting the outcome of a full technical assessment.

Gerber said while Richards Bay’s electricity system remained relatively stable, vandalism and cable theft were major threats.

He said the city recently invested more than R2 million in new equipment to detect electrical faults more quickly.

Environmental degradation in the city’s greenbelt areas was another major concern, with residents reporting growing informal settlements and illegal dumping.

Gerber said the CRCA had been highlighting the issue for months.

“The number of vagrants pouring into the city is getting out of control, and they are squatting on every possible stretch of greenbelt,” he said.