Residents feel ‘less valued’ as FTLM continues to mistreat them
BURGERSFORT
The state of service delivery in Burgersfort CBD has reached its worst point and residents have accused the Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality of taking locals for granted.
Traffic congestion has reached unacceptable levels, particularly during month-end periods when traffic volumes increase significantly.
The lack of visible traffic law enforcement and traffic management during peak periods often results in complete gridlock. This situation is further aggravated by non-functional traffic lights, some of which have reportedly been out of service for more than a year.
Uncollected rubbish, and public safety are other another growing concerns in Burgersfort. Streetlights installed throughout the town are largely non-operational, leaving many areas in darkness. Furthermore, the security camera network, reportedly established at significant cost, appears to be ineffective due to non-functioning equipment, vandalism, theft of batteries, and a lack of active monitoring.
These conditions have created opportunities for criminal activity. Reports of theft from vehicles and robberies during traffic congestion are becoming increasingly common, leaving residents and visitors vulnerable and undermining confidence in public safety measures.
With some of these complaints raised by the Concerned Residents and Stakeholders of Burgersfort, they pleaded with the FTLM to intervene.
They locals demanded, “Restoration and maintenance of damaged roads following service-related excavations. Repair and maintenance of all non-functional traffic lights as well as increased deployment of traffic officers during peak traffic periods.”
The locals also demanded: “The Restoration and maintenance of street lighting throughout Burgersfort and a full audit and restoration of the town’s security camera network.”
The roads in the Burgersfort CBD and those leading to the town are also in a bad state.
A local resident Mathope Mnisi, commented, “Potholes are no longer isolated defects; they represent a systemic collapse of road infrastructure. Temporary patchwork repairs, where they occur at all, are washed away within weeks, pointing to poor workmanship, inferior materials, or a lack of planning and oversight.”
He stressed that neglect has tangible consequences: higher vehicle repair costs, increased accident risks, reduced emergency access, and damage to local economic activity and investor confidence.
“What makes this even more concerning is that road maintenance is not optional. It is a core municipal function funded through public revenue. Residents are paying for services they are simply not receiving. Budget excuses cannot justify the collapse of basic service delivery.”
Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality’s communications team did not respond to queries about the current state of the roads in the town, traffic lights, streetlights, bumper-to-bumper traffic in the town, lack of visible traffic law enforcement and the cameras installed in the Burgersfort town.
