By Lungile Ntimba
The Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Standing Committee on Petitions has subpoenaed Emfuleni Local Municipality for failing to account for several unresolved service delivery petitions lodged by local residents.
Chair of the Standing Committee on Petitions, Vuyiswa Jentile, held a public hearing on Thursday to assess eight service delivery petitions submitted by residents.
To the Committee’s utter dismay, only one of the eight petitions was addressed, with no senior municipal officials or the mayor present to account for the rest.
Critical service failures in Sebokeng, relocation issues in Tshepiso, disputes over municipal rates, the Evaton Township Mega Project, and residential land disputes in Evaton were highlighted as of the major issues affecting residents’ lives.
The lack of urgency received strong criticism from Jentile, who described it as undermining community concerns and the integrity of the petitions system.
“The Committee cannot accept continued failures to respond. Emfuleni’s inaction delays resolution of community grievances and undermines the petitions system,” said Jentile.
“These are not minor oversights but failures that impact residents’ daily lives and dignity,” Jentile said.
Jentile stressed the system’s necessity for ordinary citizens as a last resort after exhausting other avenues of recourse.
“Barricading streets during protests should not be the means through which service delivery issues are understood,” Jentile said.
Jentile confirmed that all petitions would remain open until tangible interventions were implemented, emphasising ongoing monitoring and decisive action in residents’ best interests.
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