Bylaw compliance on the upward trend in Melville
11-11-2014
An increasing number of businesses in the Melville area, in the City of Johannesburg’s Region B, are complying with municipal bylaws.
This observation was made by Urban Inspector Phillip Miya during a visit to the ward by a range of municipality-owned entities (MOEs) on Friday as part of the City’s Integrated and Visible Service Delivery Outreach Programme to attend to service delivery shortfalls and ensure that bylaws are adhered to.
This was the second visit to the area by the City’s MOEs – including the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, Pikitup, Environmental Health and City Power – as well as the South African Police Service, Gauteng Liquor Board and Displaced Persons’ Unit in 10 months.
“The first visit was in January,” Miya said on Friday. “Most of the businesses are now complying with the City’s bylaws. It is evident that they have taken the necessary action to improve their compliance since the last time we were here. We found fewer bylaw violations during this visit compared to the last time and residents and business owners appear to be happy to see us walking around doing inspections.”
The Integrated and Visible Service Delivery Outreach Programme gives City officials and other stakeholders the opportunity to interact directly with residents and business owners to resolve service delivery issues. It also enables the officials to iron out infrastructure-related challenges under the Johannesburg 10 Plus Initiative.
Each month, a region identifies an area to be visited to ensure that service delivery challenges are promptly addressed and that municipal bylaws are adhered to. During the visits the officials make sure that:
Restaurants and pubs operating in the area have licences to do so;
Vagrants don’t vandalise public property;
Food prepared for sale is done under safe and hygienic conditions; and
Service delivery questions are promptly dealt with.
On Friday, a pub in Main Street was issued with a warning after health inspectors found that its chips fryer operated without an extractor fan, making the establishment and patrons reek of fat. The business owner was instructed to install an extractor fan or stop frying chips in the pub.
On 4th Street, an abandoned car that had been on the pavement for over four months was impounded.
The manager of a well-known pub was told to reduce noise levels in her establishment following complaints by neighbours. She, however, asked City officials to visit the area at night to measure the noise levels as she suspected rival businesses were jealous of her success.
Ward 87 Councillor Amanda Forsythe commended City officials, especially Miya, for ensuring that there was a visible presence of municipal personnel on the ground.
“We’ve been experiencing problems with potholes and crumbling pavements but today I see teams from the Johannesburg Roads Agency are also in our area to fix the problems. Miya has been a fantastic urban inspector and I’m devastated that he’s moving to another ward. This is a serious loss for us,” Cllr Forsythe said.
The Displaced Persons’ Unit interviewed two homeless people and took down their details with a view to taking them to a shelter.
City officials were on hand to answer questions from residents and business owners on services-related issues. They also discussed traffic bylaws, recycling initiatives and environmental cleanliness.
To log a service delivery shortfall, contact the City’s Call Centre on 0860 562 874, log onto www.joburg.org.za or email joburgconnect@joburg.org.za