Ward 115 residents want service delivery answers

Held in the green sanctuary of the Norscot Recreational Centre, residents within Ward 115 area joined their ward councillor Matome Mafokwane and his committee for an Integrated Development Plan (IDP) meeting on 22 February.

With the meeting scheduled to start at 10am, attendees were starting to get slightly restless as time ticked towards 10.30am with the council still not there.

The beginning of the meeting started with the introduction of the City of Johannesburg Office of the Speaker David Mawelewele. He gave attendees a presentation which spoke on the role of a ward councillor and provided valuable information. These included the fact that a ward councillor is the link between residents and municipal places.

Throughout the meeting, residents took the opportunity to share their concerns in their community. Murray van Zyl, an environmental committee member of the ward, called out Mafokwane on his ‘invisibility’ when it comes to community meetings and solving problems.

He said the group he is with, Jukskei Park, Klein Jukskei Greenbelt initiative, has had 14 meetings to discuss and do a variety of things, but Mafokwane has only been to one since becoming ward councillor.

He also added his concerns about other issues within the community. “Only 14 months later are we getting street lights. I have been to City Parks almost 37 times in the last 12 months. I’ve begged and pleaded for money from various community members to clean up the parks. As a ward councillor, you are supposed to take our concerns and escalate them to a point of getting addressed,” said van Zyl as attendees agreed with his statements.

“We need a ward councillor who will address our problems and come back with answers and feedback. We don’t see you.”

Mafokwane acknowledged all the work Van Zyl has put into the ward and said he deserves credit and appreciation for his work.

Another attendee, Lizzy Mabena also addressed concerns she had with the ward’s management and issues in the area. “Service delivery worries me. We also speak on issues regarding no water, or no electricity, we do not see any change. There are major service delivery issues in Kya Sands. Kya Sands residents have marched to Douglasdale Police for the second time about these about bad service delivery and crime issues,” she said.

A chance of rebuttal was given to Mafokwane both times, but no direct answer was given by him in terms of improvement. Community members who attended were getting slightly agitated and confused. Things escalated and a number of attendees left the meeting in frustration.

Ward committee members had a chance to talk to residents about wanting to improve conditions in the ward and their thoughts. One committee member, Tshepo Marakalala had everyone cheering and applauding in agreement. “In our community, it seems to be a perception that there are two communities. This office is here to give clarity to all of you. There is no way we will start a project in the community, and you will not know about it and not know who is being hired,” said Marakalala.

In conclusion, issues were raised by community members, and they walked out still feeling like there was not much discussed in the development plan.

Mafokwane acknowledged the concerns raised by the community members during the meeting. In the attempt to turn over a new leaf with the community, he said, “Where we have failed you as a committee, we will take responsibility.”

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