Ward Based War Rooms to ensure oversight as the fight against Covid-19 intensifies
The targeted regions are the North and South Region and affected wards are in the Thembisa and Kathorus area.
The City of Ekurhuleni was identified as one of the municipalities that reflect a high number of coronavirus infections in Gauteng.
As such, a tactical response was required to address immediate challenges faced by communities and to ensure oversight for service delivery through a stakeholder-based approach.
The constant national increase in Covid-19 infections has necessitated municipalities to look beyond the conventional methods of service delivery to secure the livelihood of citizens during this pandemic. The ward-based service delivery approach will assist in managing infections by closing in on highly infected regions and wards.
On June 15, Ward Based War Rooms (WBWR) launched in the City of Ekurhuleni. These are local structures that will facilitate the new service delivery approach.
The composition of the War Rooms are in line with the six pillars of ward-based service delivery, which include comprehensive health response, economic response, law enforcement and compliance, food security, social mobilisation and lastly, state capacity and adaptability.
Ward and PR councillors will lead and chair the WBWR structures, which will report to the District Command Council. These structures are in the process of establishing in all Gauteng municipalities, in line with the provincial strategy.
The WBWR will operate in line with Level 3 risk-adjusted regulations with the objective to localise Covid-19 response.
The targeted regions are the North and South Region and affected wards are in Thembisa and Kathorus area.
The National Department of Health has indicated that the country has not reached its peak infection level, but has explained that the unprecedented increase in daily infections is due to a relaxation of lockdown regulations.
It is critical for municipalities to work closely with highly affected communities and provincial government to slow down the rate of infection, especially in hot spot areas.
Issued by the Legislature – City of Ekurhuleni
