As part of its role to inform our readers, the GCN publicly invited the ward candidates in the relevant wards to answer one question: which service delivery problem in your ward (area), which hinders the rebuilding of the ward’s local economy, will you address first and how?
The Democratic Alliance’s candidates responded as follows:
Ward 36 Wendy Morgan:
“The major service delivery problem affecting Ward 36 is the interruption of electricity supply to the industrial areas and businesses.
“Industries need stable electricity supply as many of these industries operate 24 hours to make them cost-effective. Every day of downtime can cost a business 5% of the profit and turnover and affects the affordability and sustainability of the business. Downtime also means that the staff are asked to stay home and thus are not receiving an income.
“To ensure a stable supply of electricity to the industrial areas in the ward, the substations need to be maintained yearly and upgraded to cope with the growth. The substations need to be properly secured and monitored so that they cannot be vandalised.
“Ekurhuleni business hubs keep the City functioning, create jobs for our residents and keep the local economy growing and sustainable.
“I will ensure that there is a budget allocated to do the yearly maintenance and keep the lights on to enable the rebuilding of the local economy and create employment for residents.”
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Ward 37 Ivan Naidoo:
“The main issue in the ward, which hinders rebuilding the local economy, is reliable electricity supply. While this is severely affecting business development, it also has a huge impact on residents in the ward.
“Power outages are a daily occurrence and the response from the City regarding restoration is extremely poor.
“If I am the elected ward councillor, I will fight to ensure that all substations in the ward are the number one priority on the IDP list for upgrades. “This will assist in minimising the power outage in the area. By ensuring reliable electricity, we keep businesses functioning at their optimum. Increased business productivity can result in more local jobs being made available as well as business reinvestment in the area.
“Therefore, it is crucial to stabilise the electricity grid of the ward and ensure an adequate budget is allocated for proper maintenance, which must be carried out routinely.
“By getting the basics right and delivering reliable services to our community, we can foster job creation and rebuild our struggling local economy. We need to get things done.”
Ward 39 Jean Ingram:
“Electrical outages continue to plague Ward 39, severely impacting the local economy as it prevents businesses and home-run businesses from being productive.
“Covid-19 has seen a lot of residents working from home, and power outages hamper productivity.
“We must stabilise the power grid to better assist the local economy. This is one of the first things I will address. Aged and failing infrastructure need to be replaced and detection systems need to be put in place at substations to prevent theft, which is a major cause of power outages.
“The City must invest in upgrading the electricity grid of the ward, as power stability can foster job creation in the local economy.
“To address this, I plan to pressure the municipal council into ensuring funds are made available to upgrade the power grid. Furthermore, working with the EMPD to stop the stem of illegal connections and enforce the municipal by-laws will assist to alleviate some of the pressures placed on the power grid. We need to get things done to rebuild our local economy.”
Ward 92 Kade Guerreiro:
“Ward 92 is a unique ward with each area having different issues affecting the communities’ daily livelihoods.
“I recently conducted an online poll to ascertain what residents thought were the biggest issues within Ward 92. Across the ward, water outages were the top issue, while electricity was also highlighted sharply.
“These basic service delivery failures are directly contributing to the rebuilding of the ward’s local economy. Water outages mean businesses need to close their doors due to the health risks associated with no water. Unplanned power outages result in a stop/start in production and services. This is having a huge impact on the livelihood of businesses and employees.
“If elected as the ward councillor, I will escalate the severe water outages to all levels of government and pressure Ekurhuleni to make funds available to build more water storage units and ensure the pump systems work properly.
“To tackle the ongoing power outages, I will petition Ekurhuleni to do a full upgrade to the area, and fight to end the scourge of illegal connections and acts of vandalism on the City’s fragile infrastructure.
“We need to get things done and working again to bolster our ailing local economy.”
Contact the newsroom by emailing:
Marietta Lombard (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za, or (Journalists) Busi Vilakazi busiv@caxton.co.za
