WARD councillors in Durban are ready to put plans into action for their respective wards this year.
Ward 31 (Musgrave, Overport, Sydenham) councillor, Chris Pappas said 2018 promises to be a year full of challenges and he looks looking forward to tackling them. He hopes to continue to make progress in the communities he works for.
“My goal for 2018 is to build strong relationships with NGOs, religious institutions and other civic bodies. The aim is to have an active citizenry in Musgrave, Overport, Asherville and Sydenham. Another important goal in 2018 is to foster and build community pride. As resources become more scarce and the municipality has more and more difficulties in delivering services, it is up to us to start owning our communities. I would like to create a sense of ownership and pride so that we uplift our area,” he said.
Pappas said 2018 will be his year to fix the small things such as potholes, verges, street lights, bins and more. He believes that if the basics work, the rest will naturally follow.
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“Lastly, is my commitment to doing everything in my power to increase the safety and security of our community. This includes enforcement of by-laws, from simple traffic offences to bigger land use issues. Beware, lawlessness will not be tolerated in ward 31. As many of the issues in ward 31 are affected by or affect neighbouring wards 25, 27 and 33, I would like to work more closely with my colleagues in these wards to that together we work to stop the gradual decline of the Berea, with specific focus on Parks, DSW, Roads and Metro Police,” he said.
Councillor Martin Meyer of ward 27 (Musgrave, Morningside, Blue Lagoon) said the festive season had been challenging with issues of vagrancy and prostitution being particularly problematic.
“This year I plan to work with various law enforcement agencies, social development, NGOs and the community to try find sustainable solutions, as reactionary methods are just not cutting it. I attended an interdepartmental meeting this week to find a way forward,” he said.
He said part of this action is to set up community patrols in lower Morningside in partnership with the CPF, Metro Police, security companies and residents.
“My focus is on community involvement in solving problems in the ward. We need partnerships when running a ward like this,” he said.
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Another goal is to work with the ward committee in addressing youth unemployment in the area.
“I have started discussions with the Florida Road UIP on skills development in the ward. We have a lot of unemployed matriculants and school leavers,” he said.
Meyer said he aimed to have street meetings once a month to cover various parts of the ward where residents could voice their concerns and he could provide them with feedback.
“I invite residents to be more active and to attend council meetings so they can also see the challenges councillors face on a daily basis. Residents need to comment on the Rates Policy which is now out. I invited residents to comment and only received feedback from one resident. This is the reason why public participation doesn’t work, it is simply not utilised. The Rates Policy will seriously affect residents in the ward in the current economic situation, and is a big concern,” he said.
Ward 33 (Glenwood/Umbilo) councillor, Mmabatho Tembe, said this year she would be working hard on resolving issues related to DSW and the Parks Department. She said she felt if these departments were streamlined, it would better be able to deal with a lot of complaints in the ward.
“I will also be focusing on the issue of vagrancy and plan to work closer with Metro Police regarding this. I will continue trying to get residents more involved with my service delivery drives which give residents a better understanding of the scope of a councillor and what’s going on in the ward. I hope to include more of these drives which I feel are very important, and aim to do two a month,” she said.
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She said she would also be focusing on getting a mobile Metro Police station up and running, thanks to the donation of a trailer by the Umbilo Business Forum.
“The trailer will be placed in areas where the Metro Police can monitor prostitution and vagrancy, such as Allenby Gardens, off Teignmouth Road,” she said.
Tembe said she would also like to work with the Parks Department to establish a proper recreational park in the Umbilo area.
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