Councillor hopeful ANC will deliver its unfinished business

Proportional representative councillor Phumzile Sithole in Alexandra is worried about a potential disaster in waiting.

The houses of Setswetla and Silverton informal settlements are on the flood line along the Jukskei River with residents at risk if the river bursts its banks.

Sithole said the matter was of concern to the City’s current ANC administration which took over the reins from the DA pending the February 2021 local government elections. Sithole is hopeful that her party will continue implementing a work programme to deal with the issue which she said was interrupted after her party ceded power to the DA.

“This created a gap which was exploited by those who built on the flood line and on illegally dumped rubble that was not fully compacted and is likely to be eroded over time by rainwater.” She said the ANC administration would be blamed when this happened. She attributed this challenge to the previous administration’s failure to effect environmental impact assessment directives and housing bylaws.

“They even stopped a court order for the destruction of the illegal structures and promised to reconstruct houses that had been razed,” she claimed. “We [ANC] are now facing lawsuits from owners of the illegal structures.”

Sithole also attributed the challenge to a breakdown in intergovernmental relations when the local and provincial governments were led by two political parties. She linked this with the stalled development of inner Alexandra saying the previous City administration withdrew from the ANC-led provincial land task team’s proposal on the area’s development options. “They withdrew from the Statement of Intent claiming that they were not involved in its drafting.”

She is hopeful the current administration will deal with illegal structures. “They mushroomed when bylaw enforcement was emasculated for political expediency after the JMPD was instructed not to demolish shacks which were constructed under power lines, on servitudes and pavements. They [shacks] obstruct maintenance work resulting in blocked drains, flooding of streets and cause health hazards.”

Also, she is hopeful the Joxi@Work neighbourhood clean-up programme, which was halted, will be reconsidered. “It involved community participation and inculcated pride in residents who kept their own areas and streets clean unlike now when rubbish and litter fester for days on street corners.”

Sithole anticipated that the once dedicated Metro police sector patrols would be revived. “Specific community members involved in their operation helped to coordinate and expedite police’s response to crime scenes.”

She urged for urgent attention to be given to the dilapidated Madala and Helen Joseph hostels. This is after successive administrations pronounced their maintenance budgets for the hostels but the money was not used. She attributed this to poor coordination and urged for development work to be depoliticised.

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