Following a recent visit to Edenvale’s municipal depot, concerns over their functionality and ability to provide timely services to residents were raised.
On September 3, Ward 19 Clr Bill Rundle visited the water and sanitation, roads and stormwater, the parks and energy depots.
He described each of the depots as being in poor condition.
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“The visits to the depots were done to assess the available vehicle capacity for operations. A comparison to previous findings indicates no improvement,” said Rundle.
He explained that visits to the depots by ward councillors can be conducted by depot management.
This is done to highlight issues affecting service delivery.
“This is in line with the provisions providing for interaction between officials and community elected representatives per the Structures Act,” said Rundle.
Rundle said at each depot he identified a lack of mobility, vacant positions, and poor condition of the facilities with litter, weeds and clutter lying about.
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“The depots are barely functioning,” highlighted Rundle.
“It is only due to the experience and innovation of the staff manning the operations that they operate, no thanks to the metro.
Rundle said because of this, turnaround times are not being maintained or achieved due to the backlogs that have arisen.
According to him, this has resulted in unrepaired work and unfinished jobs.
“Water, wastewater, energy, and stormwater operations are essential services and must be available 24/7 uninterrupted or with minimal interruption,” said Rundle.
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He said if the depots aren’t able to function service delivery will be severely affected.
“For starters, there will be no repairs of water and sewage leaks. This will lead to waterlogged roads due to blocked stormwater drains.
“If power fails private residents, businesses and the industrial areas will all be in the dark. This will affect security, safety, health, food, cleanliness and general hygiene.”
To improve the depots’ functionality, Rundle said all critical and essential services vacancies must be filled immediately to ensure operational capacity.
All vehicle and fleet requirements need to be maintained to ensure mobility and functionality.
“The municipality’s section 79 oversight body has been working to move things along and several matters have recently been reported to MPAC, Municipal Public Accounts Committee for Internal Audit, Forensic and Special Investigating Unit processes to ensure compliance with corporate governance standards,” said Rundle.
A request for comment was sent to the city of Ekurhuleni on September 11 requesting comment by September 13 at 14:00.
