Greetings. Dikgatlong municipality fails residents in Barkly West, observed long-term. This town is FILTHY, with specific locations a daily headache. We have severe land pollution all over town (even within 100m from municipal offices). There is burning of trash, recyclables, plastics. in middle of town in large, yellow metal bins (toxic air) (also within 100m from municipality). There is severe land pollution alongside Vaal River School (south side) including burning, and sick water running in waterway (20m from school!). Sewage runs in streets, various locations, daily, including from prison, underneath R31 main road (where remains of a failed taxi station can be seen), then running into drains with no covers (thus trash included) into the Vaal River. Our graveyard and perimeter (entrance to our neighbourhood) is in sickening state (land pollution, pollution is waterways, burning content in yellow bins, etc. The area in Waterboer St remains sickening due to same reasons. The waterway passing alongside fuel station underneath R31 main road towards river is polluted. Town does not have proper trash bins on paving. The area around some entrepreneur centre (100m from municipal offices) is in severely polluted state as well Long Street passing on north side (sewage water, trash, etc). Several business (Long Street) add to sewage in streets. Some business (might be U-Save or the business alongside it), discard blood in drains/streets. Back of presumably U-Save (Long St.) trash is dumped, daily, in large volumes. Furthermore, adding to this degrading situation, municipality fails us as follows: email shown on website does not work; sending email via contact page gives contradictory messages (you do not know if mail was sent); the email shown on mun. statements is different... you use it... NEVER A REPLY; there is supposed call centre using a WA number but the person is clueless (ex. it is now 23 days since the person checked/read cases!!) (BEYOND INSANITY); cases are not escalated; mun. manager, mayor and our councilors fail to respond to the most basic of requests; inspections are non-existing despite countless requests. Add to that, ALL DOCUMENTS OF PUBLIC INTEREST MUST (PER LAW) BE PUBLISHED ON MUN. WEBSITE... go check... there is ZERO... DECADES LATER (no bylaws, budgets, fin. statements, plans, building regulations, meeting notes, etc.). Even if some newspaper ad by mun. states that documents are on website, it's never published! Lies! Even if writing email or asking councilors for these documents, NO REPLY! Info is intentionally withheld. This municipality and council are UNFIT for the job. This town is driven into the ground, day by day, further and further (one could mention dead streetlights... 12 years on not repaired and as a consequence criminal activity increased; countless potholes all over; roads not scraped... what used to be tar roads, etc.) Add to that, some government supported a recycling system for this town. It is a DEAD LOSS! Years on, messed up, not functioning (perhaps 1 or 2 private persons now benefitting). It makes us sick to see this town in this state and experiencing the type of service levels described. We lose property value. We lose dignity. Our living quality is ruined. Please take over, get systems in place, remove incompetent persons, because the future here is a downward spiral. Persons in charge can sit back and still receive good income without lifting a finger. Where there is no incentive or penalty, this is expected. We also ask that laws be designed that REQUIRES municipality to update and upload bylaws at least every 6-12 months. A municipality should have at least 1 inspectors (environment/health). We ask in specific that more funds be channeled to productive cleaning teams who do things right (not as they do now... sweeping trash away from shoulder of road INTO veld or natural area, or make heaps mixed with soil and burn it in neighbourhoods... trash must be REMOVED from neighbourhoods). All the above is documented and available on request incl. messages/communication with municipality, councillors for ward 2 and 8, etc. (showing ZERO response). (In fact, councilor ward 2 refused adding me to ward 2 WA group. I then stated I will ask him in public meeting if he discriminates. Then he immediately added me. After about 3 weeks in that group and 3-4 cases raised and answers requested, he blocked me. It is obvious that persons in charge are unfit for these positions, unable to communicate and provide solutions, and would rather try to hide issues than take it on). I'll send another letter dealing with environment/agriculture/health, explaining how mun. management and same councilor protect others (neighbour who cause us severe hygiene/health problems due to poor livestock management; immense urine/ammonia stenches; illegal structures; unsafe/dilapidated dwelling; smoke pollution; trashing; dumping large volumes of manure outside gate in public space, etc.). END.