Entrepreneurs at the Uraniaville Business Hub in Klerksdorp are issuing a dire warning, stating that the complete collapse of municipal services is forcing them to the brink of closure and putting numerous jobs in jeopardy.
During an oversight visit by Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader John Steenhuisen, business owners from a range of sectors, including dairy and steel manufacturing, detailed a severe and ongoing crisis involving poor roads, a lack of water, persistent electricity cuts, and a total failure of infrastructure maintenance.
A dairy processor highlighted the critical water shortage, explaining the immense operational burden. “We need about 200,000 litres a day to process the milk,” the owner said. “There’s no water, so we have to get water with our tankers from outside and pump it into our system.”
The lack of services has crippled logistics and production. A business owner stated that deliveries are being denied to clients because trucks can no longer access certain areas, including RDP housing developments. The electricity issues are particularly devastating, with one manufacturer clarifying the problem extends beyond national load shedding.
“On an average month, we’re losing about two and a half days worth of production, which in my industry is a lot,” the owner said, emphasizing that the faults are local.
The decay has been a long time in the making. A long-standing business owner, who has operated in the hub since 2000, expressed deep pessimism. “Over the years the service delivery, the infrastructure, has just deteriorated to the point where I just don’t know if we are going to be able to come back from where we are now,” they said.
The water crisis is a constant and costly battle. One company detailed going seven days without municipal supply. “I could spend five, six, seven, eight thousand rand a day just on water,” the owner said, describing staff being diverted from their duties to haul water in buckets for basic sanitation. “It’s just not a pleasure being here with this local municipality.”
The cumulative effect is a severe threat to employment. While some businesses have avoided direct retrenchments, they are operating with skeleton crews. One family business, operational for 26 years, revealed a devastating 40% reduction in its workforce over the past 12 years, directly correlating to a 40% drop in business.
“The infrastructure has gone down quite rapidly in this industrial area,” the owner stated, “causing a lot of companies to move out and causing a lot of job losses.” The terrible road conditions further compound the problem, making it difficult for employees with small cars to travel to work without sustaining constant damage.
DA Leader John Steenhuisen, after hearing the concerns, pointed to a systemic failure. “The main problem that all of those sectors have in common is infrastructure and the collapse of infrastructure,” he said. “Whether it’s roads, whether it’s sewage, whether it’s electricity… it’s having a detrimental impact on the local economy. If you’re not getting the basics right… you don’t have a hope in hell of growing the economy.”
Efforts to get a comment from the Matlosana Local Municipality on the allegations of a total lack of service provision were unsuccessful.
