Service delivery, maintenance and upgrading of infrastructure is a vital part of the municipality’s duties within a town.
According to the local ward councillors, Alberton is one of the areas within the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) with the highest tax collection rate with collection rates exceeding 90 per cent.
However, residents feel that they are now at a point where they will start demanding service because they feel despite them paying for services they are being let down by the CoE.
Some of the gripes include power outages, cable faults, burst pipes, a call centre that can hardly ever give you the correct answer (that is if and when phones are answered), and no by-laws being enforced to stop dumping.
Ratepayers simply had enough.
The RECORD joined our local councillors on a tour of their wards to see the problems the wards experience and speak to them about how this affects residents.
Budgets for big ideas
While residents are being sent from pillar to post, and often feel they are simply ignored, Ekurhuleni’s mayor, councillor Mzwandile Masina, tweeted his plans to reinvigorate the economy following the Covid-19 lockdown.
In what he calls big ideas, he outlined projects that he claims are in the pipeline for the CoE. The first is to create a Disneyland Africa within the City.
The second big idea is to construct a Formula 1 racetrack next to ORTIA. These projects proposed also include a botanical garden next to Gillooly’s and a wildlife zoo. The last plan for development is a University of Applied Science and Innovation.
Sentiment from the councillors is that these plans are exorbitant considering the state of service delivery within the City of Ekurhuleni.
Different Wards
Alberton is divided by four separate wards.
Ward 106 covers the areas of New Redruth, Meyersdal, Alberante, Raceview and the Alberton CBD. Brackenhurst, Brackendowns and Swartkoppies falls under of Ward 38.
Ward 37 includes the areas of Alberton North, Verwoerdpark, Florentia and Albermarle. Lastly Ward 94 covers Randhart, Alrode, General Albertspark, Mayberry Park, Albertdal and Roodekop Extension 31.
