Activist accuses municipality of failing Komani residents

Residents of Komani are navigating choked stormwater drains, overgrown pavements and pothole-riddled streets in what local activist Material Matshoba has described as a “man-made crisis, born from neglect and a blatant disregard for service delivery.”

In a statement this week, Matshoba said the decay across the town was not the result of a natural disaster, but of months and years of municipal inaction.

“Take a walk down any street in Komani, and you will find the majority of drains choked solid with debris, soil, and garbage,” Matshoba wrote. “A stormwater drain does not close overnight; it succumbs to months, or even years, of wilful neglect.”

“An insult to every resident who pays rates”
Matshoba accused officials and municipal workers of ignoring the problem despite it being part of their job.

“This happens when those in authority drive past these drains every single day and choose to see nothing. It happens when municipal workers collect their salaries but never lift a shovel,” he said.

“There are people whose job descriptions explicitly include maintaining our public infrastructure, yet our streets remain in ruins. This is not merely an oversight, it is a dereliction of duty. It is an insult to every resident who pays their rates and taxes yet receives nothing but broken promises in return.”

He said it had become “disturbingly routine” for residents to “navigate through filth, swerve around potholes, and wade past pools of stagnant water, watching their communities decay right before their eyes.”

Matshoba linked the blocked drains to wider infrastructure failure.

“Look at our pavements, they are overgrown with grass. When blocked drainage systems meet overgrown pavements, the result is water pooling on our streets. These pools erode the tar, creating potholes and cracks,” he said.

“The erosion of our infrastructure is a direct consequence of the erosion of municipal responsibility and a dysfunctional leadership that has lost its way. We are witnessing the physical fabric of our municipality being torn apart, in plain sight.”

Matshoba called on the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality to act urgently.

“Those responsible must act now. They must clear debris from every partially blocked drain and dig out those that are completely sealed to restore their function. Furthermore, drains must be inspected regularly to ensure that none ever reach total closure again,” he said.

Enoch Mgijima was listed among the 62 municipalities in “severe financial distress” in the Auditor-General’s 2024-25 report, with ongoing challenges around basic service delivery and infrastructure.

By the time of publishing the article, the municipality had not responded to Komani News.