With 2019 in full motion, Clr Heather Hart of Ward 18 has returned back to work and is ready to help the community where she can.
During 2018, Hart had a number of achievements most notably the success of the Horwood’s Farm Market which brought the community together and united the greater Ekurhuleni.
“In general, 2018 was mostly a battle to keep the proverbial lights on when it came to basic service delivery,” said Hart.
However, looking ahead to the New Year, Hart has identified several matters she would like to see addressed by the end of the year.
Also read: Hart appeals to CoE to not allow proposed selling of land at Horwood’s Farm
These include the completion of the Illiondale Outfall Sewer and the rehabilitation of the Illiondale Wetlands.
She would also want to see the completion of phase one of the Horwood’s Farm upgrade and kicking off of phase two which includes the dam and the area east of the dam.
“In addition to these, I will apply pressure on the municipality to fully resource Edenvale depots so that they can undertake basic maintenance.”
Other matters which Hart hope to see completed include:
• Removing JP Bezuidenhout Park and Horwood’s Farm from the strategic land parcel list.
• Seeing an implemented policy to address homelessness.
• Getting a street sweeping and gutter cleaning operation underway
• To see the commencement of the Eastleigh Spruit upgrade and repair work on the 2016 flood damage.
• To ensure that basic maintenance is done in Edenvale.
By working with the community and various departments Hart hopes to improve service delivery.
“If we want to improve the state of Edenvale we will have to continue to work very hard reporting and escalating service delivery failures.”
Also read: Be aware of false council officials – Hart
Hart said community members can assist her by reporting service delivery issues to the call centre on 0860 543 000 or call.centre@ekurhuleni.gov.za or the municipality’s mobile application.
“While posting on Facebook and community WhatsApp groups helps to highlight issues, these do need to be reported to the municipality, and if necessary, escalated to get them resolved,” said Hart.
She explained that if a reported matter is not addressed it should be reported to the relevant councillor.
“Edenvale is suffering from serious urban degradation thank to reduced levels of service delivery standards,” said Hart.
Looking to the future, Hart is encouraging community members to keep the pressure on the municipality to ensure that they receive the services they pay for.
“Unfortunately councillors can only do so much and we need the community to help us to hold the metro accountable.”
