Bloemfontein – Communities around Bloemfontein have complained about poor service delivery, load shedding crises, crime, alcohol and drug abuse, and other issues that they claim have been ignored in the past few years.
This comes as ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa prepares to deliver the party’s 111th anniversary speech at Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Mangaung, the party’s birthplace.
The residents of Bochabela complained that their livelihoods have been chaotic, particularly with the prevalence of drugs and crime in the area.
“We love the ANC, but we have a problem with the party. The life we are living is hard. We have too much crime, unemployment, and drug problems,” said 56-year-old Elizabeth Monama of the Bochabela location in Bloemfontein.
Monama spoke to The Star from her neighbour’s home just as the party was preparing for its big celebration.
She said the community of Bochabela is living in fear of crime and drugs, which has been exacerbated by the surge of illegal immigrants in the area.
“We are living in fear of crime and drugs. We can easily get shot inside the house. Crime is not being solved, and the police are not doing their jobs. Load shedding is a big issue, and our appliances are getting damaged, and some of them have burnt out as a result of load shedding. It was better during apartheid as there were jobs for our children, and right now our children are not working even though they are graduates. Every time our children are asked for experience,” she said.
Monama added that the ANC needed to resurrect itself and return to its former glory if it wanted to reclaim the love of the masses. She said even though she is disappointed in how the party is running the country, she will not vote for any other party come the 2024 general elections.
To tell you the truth, the ANC is still the party of my choice. I can never vote for another party, but all we want is for the ANC to do what is right.
“We live in hunger and poverty. ANC no longer the same ANC of 1994 that we voted for. We are tired and frustrated by all of this. Our streets are littered and filled with potholes. Our councillors are failing us on a daily basis and spending their time in taverns when they should be addressing our issues,” she said.
Her neighbour, Stella Molefe, told The Star more of the same thing.
“There is no service delivery when we are the ones who established the ANC. We live our daily lives with sewage spillage and other issues. They come to us when they want our votes. We need the laws of apartheid to come back because these laws worked better than the current laws.”
“Illegal immigrants have brought drugs into our country. We only used to have dagga problems, and our children who smoked dagga were clean and never did crime, and we lived with uncles who smoked dagga and lived in overcrowded houses with their nieces, but they respected women and the children. We are also disempowered by the laws of this country, which have brought illegal immigrants into our country,” Molefe said.
Vuyo Ntshali, 32, a business owner from Bloemside, says they need intervention in their community to curb crime, load shedding, drug and alcohol abuse, unemployment, and dirt in their township.
Ntshali also spoke openly about how the coloured community feels neglected by the ANC government.
In efforts to combat drug and alcohol abuse, he has hired young people who are struggling to find employment in his business.
“I would say the ANC must not neglect the coloured community. Yes, I’m black but here in Bloemside, it’s mostly coloured people. I feel like the coloured community is neglected, even with the high unemployment rate. If more information was shared about how to get into business and places where one can go, then those would be better,” said Ntshali.
