THE COMMUNITY OF GREATER TSHIAME FACES A BLEAK FUTURE UNDER THE MALUTI A PHOFUNG LOCAL MUNICIPALITY!

 THE COMMUNITY OF GREATER TSHIAME FACES A BLEAK FUTURE UNDER THE MALUTI A PHOFUNG LOCAL MUNICIPALITY!.

In my adult life I have not known any community which has had more misfortunes than the community of Greater Tshiame when it comes to the electricity and water provision. In the time just under a decade we have had close to five incidents of total power outage with the first major incident occurring in December of 2014 and the power was only restored in January of 2015. The second incident occurred in October of 2015 with the power only being restored in December of 2015. The third incident occurred in December of 2021, the power was only restored in January 2022. The fourth incident took place in February of 2023 with power only restored after three weeks. In all of the above mentioned incidents the community had to hit the streets in a protest before power was restored. It has somehow become a ritual of some sort that during or just before the festive season the community of Greater Tshiame has to be in the dark for weeks.

Now I would like to explore the ripple effects this has on the community of Greater Tshiame at different levels namely the Economic, Social and Mental Health.

The effect this has had and continue to have on the economy of Greater Tshiame cannot be over emphasized . It has led to many factories closing down their operations as doing business under these conditions have proved impossible and unsustainable . No sane investor would want to invest under such conditions, this has put paid to any prospects of attracting investors into the Tshiame Industrial Area which is now known as the Special Economic Zone. With these factories closing down their operations it has resulted into scores of people losing their jobs which has thrown their families and dependents into abject poverty and hopelessness . In such a scenario even the Small to Medium Enterprises operating within the community of Greater Tshiame are thrown into disarray because the community has lost the buying power to be able to support these small businesses. However, there is also another aspect to this, the very small businesses operating in the community are forced to shut doors because of the unreliable water and electricity provision. It becomes impossible to continue running a sustainable business which leaves them with little option but to shut their doors.

This leads us to another impact which is Social and Mental Health. In the face of abject poverty which is as a result of factories and business closing down and people losing their jobs/income , then comes the problem of crime. This crime has escalated into violent crime whereby people are robbed at gun point, some are robbed in their homes. Some have resorted into selling drugs on behalf of the drug lords who have seen an opportunity to exploit a community in desperation. It is here where the Mental Health aspect comes into the picture. Some families have collapsed in the face of this crisis and it has led to more people now having to rely antidepressants as a coping mechanism , whilst others have resorted into the alcohol abuse which unfortunately leads into more people being victims of violence and abuse. It has become a vicious cycle, but it is a cycle that has its genesis in the conduct and so I dare to say uncaring attitude of those the community has voted into office to govern their affairs.

These people aught to hang their heads in shame. The uncaring attitude by the Municipal Officials has rubbed off on the Municipal workers on the ground.

Our only hope remains the divorcing of our community from the Maluti A Phofung Local Municipality.

I am not suggesting that this will be a panacea to all our problems but shall be a progressive step forward.

By 

Teboho Sekhosana

Political and Social Activist

0844361494

sekhosanateboho9@gmail.com