Community
Do the People of Heidedal Matter? NovaSpeak Demands Answers
Emails have been sent. Calls have been made. SMS messages and WhatsApp messages have been sent. Formal questions have been submitted, interview requests have been made and follow-ups have been conducted. Yet, despite repeated attempts to obtain answers from the institutions responsible for serving the people of Heidedal, the response has largely been silence.
By Bernell Simons | Founder & Journalist, NovaSpeak
There comes a point when asking questions stops being journalism as usual and becomes a matter of accountability. For NovaSpeak, that point has arrived.
Emails have been sent. Calls have been made. SMS messages and WhatsApp messages have been sent. Formal questions have been submitted, interview requests have been made and follow-ups have been conducted. Yet, despite repeated attempts to obtain answers from the institutions responsible for serving the people of Heidedal, the response has largely been silence.
And that leaves NovaSpeak asking a very simple but uncomfortable question: Do the people of Heidedal matter?
NovaSpeak has repeatedly sought answers from Mangaung Metro and the Free State Department of Health on issues that directly affect the daily lives, safety and wellbeing of Heidedal residents. These include questions surrounding municipal service delivery, governance, infrastructure, emergency medical services and the ability of government institutions to respond when residents desperately need assistance.
These questions are not being asked for political theatre, nor are they intended to manufacture a particular narrative. They are being asked because residents live with the consequences when government systems fail.
Mangaung Metro has been approached for answers on serious questions concerning the municipality’s governance, finances, service delivery and leadership. NovaSpeak has also raised concerns relating to municipal expenditure, internal controls, the Financial Recovery Plan and whether the municipality’s political stability is translating into tangible improvements for communities.
We formally requested a live, on-camera sit-down interview with Executive Mayor Gregory Nthatisi, specifically to give him an opportunity to address these issues directly and put his position on the public record. When a live interview may not be possible, NovaSpeak has made it clear that written responses would be accepted.
That offer remains important because accountability journalism must give people being criticised or questioned a fair opportunity to respond. NovaSpeak does not expect public officials to agree with every article we publish, nor do we expect them to welcome difficult questions. What we do expect is an answer.
If the figures are incorrect, correct them. If our interpretation is wrong, explain why. If there is evidence that contradicts the concerns raised by residents or contained in our reporting, provide it. The public deserves to hear that side of the story.
The same principle applies to the Free State Department of Health, particularly regarding the ongoing concerns surrounding emergency medical response in Heidedal.
NovaSpeak has asked how many ambulances are currently operational and rostered in Mangaung, how many are available to Bloemfontein residents and how many can specifically respond to emergencies originating in Heidedal. We have asked what the response time was during the latest reported incident, when the emergency call was received, when an ambulance was dispatched and whether the response was delayed because no vehicle was immediately available.
We have also asked how many emergency calls have been received from Heidedal over the past 12 months, how many of those calls experienced significant delays and, crucially, of the 14 ambulances handed over in June, how many are currently operational in Mangaung.
If Bloemfontein’s ambulance roster increased from nine to 14 vehicles, residents have a legitimate right to ask why they continue to report difficulties obtaining timely emergency assistance.
These are not unreasonable questions.
They concern life and death.
They concern whether public resources are actually reaching the communities for whom they are intended. They concern whether government departments have enough operational capacity to respond when someone makes an emergency call. And they concern whether residents can have confidence that, when they dial for help, somebody will actually arrive in time.
That is why NovaSpeak asked one final question: How many more lives must be lost before government treats emergency response in Heidedal as the crisis it has become?
Government communication departments frequently speak about transparency, accountability and putting communities first. But accountability cannot only exist when officials want to announce a new project, hand over vehicles or celebrate an achievement. Accountability must also exist when journalists ask uncomfortable questions about whether those projects are working, whether services are reaching residents and whether government promises are translating into results.
If the Department of Health believes emergency response in Heidedal is functioning effectively, then tell the community. Provide the figures. Explain the response times. Tell residents how many ambulances are operational, where they are stationed and what is being done to address delays.
If Mangaung believes criticism of its administration is unfair, then explain the municipality’s position and provide the evidence. If officials disagree with NovaSpeak’s reporting, we want to hear their side.
But silence cannot be the permanent answer.
This is not about attacking government. It is about holding government to the standard it sets for itself. NovaSpeak does not expect perfection from public institutions, but we do expect transparency when serious questions are raised about matters affecting people’s lives.
The people of Heidedal cannot simply switch off the problems they experience. They cannot walk away from ambulance delays, infrastructure concerns, service-delivery failures or questions surrounding municipal governance. They live with these realities every day.
For many residents, these are not political talking points. They are personal experiences.
So why should the institutions responsible for addressing those problems be allowed to ignore legitimate questions about them?
NovaSpeak will continue asking.
We will continue seeking responses from the municipality. We will continue seeking answers from the Department of Health. We will continue giving officials an opportunity to put their positions on the record. And where questions remain unanswered, we will accurately report that those questions were put to the relevant authorities and that no response was received.
Because silence is also a story.
The people of Heidedal deserve more than promises. They deserve more than announcements. They deserve more than political explanations. They deserve functioning services, responsive government and institutions willing to answer when the public demands accountability.
So the questions remain:
Mangaung Municipality — do the people of Heidedal matter?
Free State Department of Health — do the people of Heidedal matter?
Because residents deserve answers. They deserve accountability. And above all, they deserve to know that their voices, their safety and their lives matter.
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