THE NEW WORKER

Bakkies with canopies are still being used to transport passengers to the nearest town known as Kokstad, about 45 kilometres away. People are forced to travel on the D606 gravel road. This costs them R50 for a single trip, R100 for a return trip. Luggage costs extra. The van carries about 18 passengers and a whole lot of luggage, including gas bottles. The Kokstad and Mount Ayliff traffic enforcement agencies don't care.

There is no Cell C network in the area, only Vodacom and MTN. If you have Cell C, you cannot recharge or call the network provider but despite this, Cell C messages keep on pouring in, especially reminders to pay for advance airtime. This is the provider's fault: intaka ityiwa ilila (eat the bird while it is crying).

Ndarhala has no creches or pre-schools. Although the Umzimvubu River is flowing, nobody is fishing. The community has lost hope but during election time, they go in numbers to vote even though they can't access water.

In this area, to play a television, you need to own a dish. Yet, communities here keep on voting for the same ANC administration simply because they now have electricity. However, not everyone has electricity. Maduna location, for example, has been fully wired but there are still no lights in the area.

In Emajojweni, electrification has not even started because it is up the mountain.

The bottom line is that 30 years after democracy, communities are paying from R100 for transport to Kokstad to access their R370 SRD grant.

There are other problems - loadshedding is still happening every day from 5pm - 7pm, and sometimes also early in the morning.

The SANDF is building a bridge for people to cross Umzimvubu river from Shlahleni to Kwelakabini. In the meantime, people are using a tebetebe, which is a river crossing structure made of wood that keeps breaking. Community members have to keep volunteering to replace it. It would be better to use rubber.

The government does not care about its residents here. A further problem occurred in January 2025. Many people had received money from friends and family to travel back home for Christmas, not knowing that SASSA detects each and every cent in their bank accounts. When it came to the end of January 2025, these people found that their R370 SRD grant had been cut off!

Now thousands of SRD grant beneficiaries have not yet received their grants. The SASSA call centre is on automated answering mode. It cannot even respond via WhatsApp to desperate people, and only claims that it has large call volumes. There is a crisis!

What needs be done? The government must allocate a bus to transport passengers to Kokstad at an affordable cost. They must fix the road and improve living conditions. Load shedding must be stopped and electricity must be provided to those who are still waiting for it.

Category: THE NEW WORKER | WORKERS' STORIES