Ready for the challenge
ALEX - Alex welcomes Democratic Alliance's Ward 81 councillor for the City of Joburg, Irene Rugheimer (60).
Incoming Democratic Alliance’s Ward 81 councillor for the City of Joburg, Irene Rugheimer (60) is bracing for the challenge she said will be mammoth but surmountable with residents’ participation.
She said this to Alex News ahead of the swearing in of the city’s councillors on 22 August.
Rugheimer takes over councillorship from African National Congress’ Mokgadi Hadebe in a ward made up of 34 000 residents from Riverpark, Lyndhurst, Bramley View, Kew, Rembrant Park and Lombardy East. A ward impacted by the social and economic challenges of Alexandra township from which it is separated by Vincent Tshabalala Road.
Rugheimer looks to draw from her people management skills acquired in the private sector and NPO charity work to encourage residents’ sustained involvement in their spatial development, particularly for children whose future, she stressed, should be of peaceful co-existence not defined by class, race or religion. “Our mandate is to ensure freedom, fairness and opportunities for all.
“This challenge derives from the lack of jobs, education and skills which cause the mushrooming of shacks, poor health, safety and potholed roads. Many people are lured to Joburg and indecent lives in shacks looking for elusive jobs which should have been made available where they come from.”
She expects council’s plans to address job creation; housing to replace shacks; road servitudes; unsuitable living spaces without proper sanitation; and water draining onto and damaging roads, causing potholes and a danger to motorists.
To ease the housing challenge, she intends prioritising the completion of the abandoned Riverpark Flats which were meant for the 2010 Soccer World Cup; and to push other housing developments in nearby empty spaces. Rugheimer will also prioritise education and life skills to empower residents in their search for jobs and decision making in their general daily lives.
She said she will also push for better community participation in the ward’s affairs. “It will make [residents] more self-reliant and limit, in particular, girls from relying on meagre grants for child support and their own upkeep.”
She will motivate for facilities linked to libraries to support weekend and evening studies, including adult literacy classes. “Also, the school environment should be improved to motivate [and] get teachers committed and passionate in order to improve the pass rate and reduce school dropouts.”
Rugheimer expects NPOs currently hamstrung by inadequate funding to partner council on social projects. “They need to be empowered on management to restore trust and enable local and international resources to be availed to them. We will summon our social, business, leadership and training skills to draft proposals in the first 100 days of council to hold councillors and residents accountable to each other,” she concluded.
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