Alex residents urged to use Parliamentary office for any service delivery issues

Alexandrians have been urged to refrain from taking to the streets whenever they are disgruntled about certain issues in the community but instead engage their Parliamentary Constituency Office first.

These were the words of Member of Parliament Hein April during a meet and greet with members of the media, urging the community to start addressing civic issues directly with their parliamentary office which is situated at 158 Jan Smuts Avenue, Rosebank.

“This also gives the community the opportunity to engage and also participate directly with parliamentarians so as to ensure that the grievances of the community are addressed as speedily as possible before people even think of going to the streets to vent their anger,” April said.

According to a survey by the People’s Assembly, April said it found that only 17% of the population knew of the existence of the parliamentary office and the work and services it offers to the community.

“The public can give feedback via our office – it is there for public participation and to hold parliament accountable and responsible via certain levels of reporting. Civic issues and drug dealing, to name just a few, can be addressed by communities rallying together, compiling petitions, getting signed support and submitting these to the parliamentary office officials who will take these to parliament for discussion and action.

“The past two years we’ve been very quiet – the pandemic forced a total shutdown of services but we ask the public to talk to us continuously – add our numbers to the community WhatsApp groups – we want to know what is happening in the community,” April added.

Parliamentary liaison officer Jacques Meiring agreed, “The main purpose of our office is to listen to the public’s grievances and deal with them as quickly as we can”.

Details: Jacques Meiring 079-214-7902; jacques.meiring@mail.com