Elderly Ga-Rankuwa residents march to demand tarred roads
“When it rains we can’t even go to the shops”
Residents of Ga-Rankuwa marched to the City of Tshwane council on Friday demanding roads in their area be tarred. Photos: Silver Sibiya
More than 100 protesters from Ga-Rankuwa, many of them elderly, marched to the City of Tshwane council on Friday demanding their streets be tarred.
They say roads in Zone 2 are neglected while roads in other sections are tarred.
“For the 60 years of Ga-Rankuwa’s existence, our section, Zone 2 has been neglected. As we speak there are other zones whose streets are being refurbished, why not us?” asked community leader Tshepo Matlaela.
He said out of 18 streets in this zone only seven were tarred many years ago.
Matlaela said the City must investigate and allocate funds to develop the area.
“The City records show that all these streets were tarred but we are here to tell them that we remain with gravel roads and we demand tarred roads.”
“We have been coming to hand over memorandums during the previous administrations but that led to nothing. We just hope this time around something will happen.”
Marchers also called for streetlights, for long grass to be cut and sewage spills from blocked pipes to be fixed.
Noko Tlemong said she had arrived in Zone 2 in 1965. The first RDP houses had been built in 2000, she said. “Many who are here are pensioners, and some will be soon.”
She said people wanted roads because “when it rains, we can’t even go to the shops”.
Marcus Molekwa also from Zone 2, said, “What we ask for is simple. We need roads to be built to improve our lives.”
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Transport Tlangi Mogale promised to respond to their demands in seven days. She also promised a meeting with City officials and an oversight visit to the community.
Marchers demanded that the City of Tshwane install and fix street lights and fixed blocked drains.
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Letters
Dear Editor
Elderly disgruntled residents of Ga-Rankuwa are using June 16, 1976 old-fashioned methods to resolve 2024 grievances. There is no need to organise a protest march to demand municipal service delivery. There are ward councillors and MMCs to attend to residents' grievances and budgets to be allocated in financial years. Protest marches are old-fashioned and outdated. There is a service delivery NPO formed in the City of Tshwane that handles such grievances by liaising with the municipality in a modern way with a 100% success rate and has been operating for the past 23 years.
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