ON Saturday, eThekwini Municipality Mayor Councillor Cyril Xaba and Speaker of Council Councillor Thabani Nyawose met with the executives of ratepayers’ associations in the city to provide feedback on service delivery issues raised in April this year.
The meeting also sought to introduce the new mayor to the ratepayers of the city. Among the issues raised during the last meeting included the discrepancy in the billing system as a result of unread meters; delays in issuing rate-clearance certificates; beach water quality; intermittent water supply, particularly in the northern areas; performance of the municipal contact centre, and the ensuring that there are enough functioning streetlights.
The Glenwood/Bulwer Residents’ and Ratepayers’ Association (GBRRA) was represented in the meeting.
“The meeting was informative, but there was a lot of repetition of what we had heard before at previous meetings. It became very heated at some points, and I find that although each ratepayers’ association may have common issues, there are other different pressing issues that each association is dealing with within their communities, and these issues have not been heard and dealt with.”
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She added that the GBRRA was hoping that the mayor and the speaker would meet with them to address the issues they are facing, as their once beautiful and peaceful community has been turned into a total nightmare for residents. “We are willing to work with them to improve this community for all who live here,” she concluded.
“To address some of these challenges, the municipality has appointed a service provider that has commenced with meter readings. This has resulted in the water and electricity meters being read regularly,” said Gugu Sisilana, the City’s spokesperson.
She added that regarding water supply, currently, the City is experiencing a challenge where the demand for water exceeds supply. “Part of the interventions the City is implementing to provide reliable water supply include reducing non-revenue water through fixing water leaks; removing illegal connections, and the installation of water meters. To meet the increasing water demand, the municipality, in collaboration with the Department of Water and Sanitation and uMngeni-uThukela Water, has begun the construction of the upper Umkhomazi Dam.”
“To address water quality issues on some of the city’s beaches, the municipality is collaborating with uMngeni-uThukela Water to repair and upgrade 10 wastewater treatment works which handle 90% of the sewage in eThekwini.”
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Berea Mail has previously reported on numerous streetlight issues, and the City, in its response, indicated that, in an effort to ensure that streetlights are lit, it has embarked on an intensive programme to repair close to 20 000 streetlights. The City is also working closely with the community crime-fighting structures to curb theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure.
“We have an obligation to listen to our ratepayers because we want them to be happy customers. Together, we can make this city work, not only for us but also for future generations. Therefore, we are saying, we are on this ship together,” said Xaba.
The mayor assured the ratepayers that the municipality was strengthening its law enforcement capabilities by recruiting more police officers to claim back the streets from criminals.
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