WARD councillors in Durban are ready to put plans into action for their respective wards this year.
Ward 33’s (Glenwood, Umbilo) Councillor Mmabatho Tembe said her biggest focus for the year was to get back to basics when it comes to effective service delivery.
“Officials need to be held accountable for the failing service delivery residents are experiencing. I want to increase regularity of service delivery drives with officials so they can see first hand the lack of service delivery in the ward,” she said.
Tembe said she already done her own drive around and had noted the first rounds of grass cutting had been done, but added there was still a lot that needed doing.
“The issue of weeds is a big one, and there is no contractor at the moment for weed spraying. The District Parks Department is doing the best they can with the little they have,” she said.
Another goal will be following up on unfinished work from the Engineering Department, inclusive of unfinished road work and unblocking of man holes.
“The municipality blames backlogs, however ratepayers pay rates monthly and these issues need to be taken into account,” she said.
Tembe said she also hoped residents would clamp down on illegal dumping and said people needed to name and shame offenders and report them so they can be fined.
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She also aims to focus on housing in the ward, and said the city had to act and address issues at Kenneth Gardens such as rubbish collection.
“I will continue to work with the CPF, SAPS and Metro, and with the increase in homelessness in the area I will push for regular policing. I encourage residents to create street WhatsApp groups as crime is still on the rise, and attend community meetings. I encourage active citizenship, as it works. Working together will get things done,” she said.
Tembe said although she doesn’t have an office, she is available to residents. She urged people to follow her Facebook page and not to only use Facebook as a reporting line for issues.
“People are encouraged to report issues, get reference numbers, email me (ward33@ethekwini.org) and follow up,” she said.
Ward 27 (Musgrave, Morningside, Blue Lagoon) councillor Ernest Smith described 2019 as an interesting year and an exceptional learning curve for him as a new councillor both in a professional and personal context.
“There were many different experiences that have taught me things about myself as well as the challenges that the community faces on a weekly, if not daily, basis,” he said.
Smith said he has set a good routine in place where his council office (Unit 5 at 453 Windermere Road) is open from 8.30am to 10.30am (depending on council/committee meeting requirements) and later in the day for special requests.
After this he has time to meet with residents and business owners and do ward patrols to keep abreast of what is happening across the ward.
“I hope to engage more with residents in the area to allow for a more frequent flow of information between the municipality and residents. Another goal would be to network a lot more with the community and form relationships with the community to come up with local-based solutions to local challenges. Local-based solutions allow the community to contribute effectively and I look forward to fostering and building those bonds further than I have done so already,” he said.
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Smith said another goal is to try and foster greater relationships with officials from the various departments and make suggestions that they can choose to implement that would assist and improve service delivery overall, in not only Morningside and Berea but in the Metro as well.
“In some cases as a councillor you win these small battles that impact the lives of many people in the area, whereas other times you aren’t successful, but that doesn’t deter me from constantly looking for ways to improve on things or from partnering with people who share the same approach. Overall, I look forward to working with the community in trying to improve the area,” he said.
Ward 31 (Musgrave, Overport, Sydenham) councillor, Charmaine Clayton said 2019 was a challenging year, but it was also exciting.
“2020 certainly is going to be a challenging year for me but I’ve been very fortunate to belong and live in ward 31. I plan to interact more with the community and eradicate the wrongs in our service delivery. I also plan to look into the huge electricity bills which people are receiving without any acknowledgement of error from Council. It really is such a pleasure to belong to ward 31, which is so diverse. I look forward to working with the community again this year,” she said.
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