The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called on KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Sihle Zikalala, to take immediate action against his Transport MEC, Peggy Nkonyeni following her ongoing snubbing of a North Coast community’s desperate appeals for key road infrastructure to be repaired.
The situation has now reached the point where community leaders in the Sheffield area – including business owners and farmers – have had to go to the extraordinary length of self-funding the repair of a large portion of the road. This after no help from the MEC and her Department.
Soon after the first round of flooding in April, DA KZN Leader, Francois Rodgers, and I met with these same community leaders to address the road repair issue. By then, they had already joined forces and cleared heavy debris leading to Tinley Manor bridge. This after limited access had already caused havoc with many people unable to get to work.
The DA welcomed the community’s initiative and attempted to set up an urgent meeting with the MEC to fast-track the issue.
Regrettably, all efforts to date have been futile with no one from the DoT visiting the area and nothing done to clear the remaining debris despite two months having passed since the floods.
The DA is at the end of its tether with this MEC and her Department, as are this community. Not only have their day-to-day lives been severely affected, further development potential in the area is also under threat.
Endeavours such as this are precisely what KZN’s political executive have been calling for. Yet, when the opportunity presents itself, community leaders are given the cold shoulder.
It is clear that MEC Nkonyeni and her DoT couldn’t care less about this community. Nor are they on the same page as KZN’s people who are tired of excuses and simply want proper services.
The DoT has an increasingly poor record when it comes to service delivery. It is time that the Premier stepped in and directed his MEC to assist this community. Alternatively, she needs to hit the road so that someone more committed can take her place.
The DA will continue to monitor this situation on behalf of its community members. We will not tolerate any further delays.