New City move to tackle service delivery challenges
28 October 2015
Mlamleli Belot, Director of the City of Johannesburg’s Region C, has been charged with the task of coordinating an integrated and multidisciplinary plan aimed at adequately responding to service delivery challenges identified during three visits to informal settlements in the region by Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMCs) on Monday October 26.
The three high-level visits were conducted under the Bua Le Sechaba (Talk to the Nation) campaign, a City initiative that seeks to bring the Mayoral Committee up to speed with service delivery challenges in the various informal settlements in the city so that corrective measures could be effected.
Councillor Solly Mogase, Chairman of Section 79 Committees, MMCs, top city officials, councillors and community leaders gathered at the Roodepoort City Hall where, after a briefing, were divided into three clusters that then visited the more than 10 informal settlements in the region.
Environment and Infrastructure Services MMC, Councillor Matshidiso Mfikoe and her Development Planning counterpart, Councillor Roslyn Greeff, led Cluster 1. Cluster 2 was led by Transport MMC, Councillor Christine Walters, Housing MMC, Councillor Dan Bovu and Corporate and Shared Services MMC, Councillor Mally Mokoena.
Community Development MMC, Councillor Chris Vondo and his Public Safety counterpart, Councillor Sello Lemao, led Cluster 3. The informal settlements visited included Leratong Village; Doornkop; Ebumnandini in wards 50, 127 and 128; Ruimsig; Hole in One; White House in Ward 97; Greater Princess Crossing; and settlements in wards 71 and 85.
In all the areas visited, the challenges were the same: housing backlogs; poor storm water drainage systems, which led to water leakages; poor street lighting; illegal water and electricity connections; inaccessible roads; and the lack of portable toilets. It was established that in most informal settlements toilets were not being emptied regularly. Illegal dumping was also a growing concern. Illegal miners were also a big headache in former mining areas such as Durban Roodepoort Deep.
After the visits, the MMCs returned to the city hall for a debriefing.
Councillor Mogase said as a city at work, Johannesburg had to deliver on its mandate of providing basic services to communities. He said all the municipal-owned entities – including Johannesburg Water, Johannesburg Roads Agency, City Parks & Zoo, Pikitup and the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department – had to come up with an integrated plan to tackle the challenges.
Belot was mandated to report back to the Mayoral Committee on the plan within two weeks.
Councillor Mogase said failure to deliver was not an option. He said councillors must represent people’s aspirations, while officials must ensure service delivery.
MMC Mfikoe, whose department is in charge of implementation, said a multidisciplinary approach and the strict enforcement of by-laws were needed to resolve some of the issues identified during the visits.
“RD Belot, get Jozi@Work to put together a work package for all settlements to deal with these issues. Let’s lock the substations that are being vandalised. Let’s sort out the housing issue, let’s communicate one message on what we are doing to address these challenges. Let’s also attend to illegal mining,” she said.
MMC Vondo proposed that the region host an open day in which the City would showcase the services it offered.