Clr Kade Guerreiro deatails his plans for the new year

With the start of the new year, Ward 92 Clr Kade Guerreiro shed light on his 2024 plans for his ward.

In recent months, the ward has been plagued with mass electricity outages, with residents waiting weeks to have their power restored.

For 2024, Guerreiro plans to request and push through the council and IDP for a full energy upgrade and the completion of the Sunnyridge Windsor substation upgrade.

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This follows the DA’s 2021 back-to-basics plan to have stable power with all electricity infrastructure upgraded in all 19 areas.

Water

Guerreiro said as per the 2021 back-to-basics plan under the DA administration, vital maintenance and upgrading of infrastructure were key.

“I will continue to prioritise energy upgrades for Ward 92 through the IDP. I will also continue to ask questions to Ekurhuleni about the completion of the Windsor substation and the start of upgrades throughout the rest of Ward 92, in particular areas like Elandsfontein, Klopperpark, and Primrose East.

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“With many outages around Ward 92 in 2023, it is hard to point out which area had the most. Unfortunately, it has been an uphill battle under the current administration to get help and answers for the residents of Ward 92.

“The City of Ekurhuleni proudly says they will restore power in 48 hours, yet they never reached this turnaround time. Instead in 2023, we had outages ranging from 50 to 90 days before getting assistance.

“As the ward councillor, I took the ongoing power crisis problems to the Human Rights Commission and did a petition to the national government, pleading for help. I truly hope for the community of Ward 92 that 2024 is better.”

Guerreiro highlighted water has been a challenge for some time, especially in the Sunnyridge areas.

“We need to start repairing the Korhaan water tower and the building of the new tower, as well as the process of building an additional reservoir.

“To assist in addressing this, last year, we signed our petitions, which have gone to parliament and Rand Water.

“Firstly, Ekurhuleni and Rand Water need to work together to ensure constant water supply, taking into account that most of Ward 92 is on a mountain, which means the area is the first to have no water.

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“Ekurhuleni needs to prioritise water infrastructure and water security by updating and building extra storage.

“The city needs to ensure we have emergency procedures to help and ensure JoJo water tanks and tankers are constantly available. They have also to take into account that during each water crisis, I drive around helping over 100 elderly residents with water. The city must ensure our schools and elderly are prioritised.”

Woodmere sinkholes

“The ward is plagued with sinkholes. The most well-known is Woodmere.

“Our sinkholes are bigger and worse than ever before and despite my questions directly to the mayor and MMC in council, as well as asking questions and doing petitions, Woodmere has received no assistance.

“During 2021, under the DA-led administration, the MMC at the time visited the area and started the process of allocating the budget to find a lasting solution to Woodmere sinkholes.

“Unfortunately, in 2023, under the EFF administration, we had zero communication and zero help. I will continue pushing Ekurhuleni and will again ensure Woodmere is on the Ward 92 IDP budget request.

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“There is zero communication, zero help, zero acknowledgement of an emergency. It seems only when there is a loss of life or property they will help us. I asked the mayor this question and was told it was a dolomitic problem, despite it being a pipe problem.

“This is the same scenario as with the Elandsfontein Wetland, the water situation in Sunnyridge, the dam situation in Buurendal and the illegal mining in Meadowdale. All these are ticking time bombs.

“All I ask from Ekurhuleni is to communicate and tell me what is happening so I can keep the community in the loop. The is no budget allocated for this financial year to deal with these sinkholes.”

Crime

“Metal and infrastructure theft is at an all-time high, drugs are on the rise, and house burglaries with assault have also increased.

“The SAPS is under severe strain. I must thank the CPF and local security groups who work daily to help our community and the general community who have been forced to start securing and protecting Ekurhuleni’s infrastructure.

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“With poverty and unemployment growing, the increase in crime has meant the community, together with the local CPF and security companies, have to defend and protect.

“For example, we have on average eight to 10 cables that got stolen per week, and this meant the residents needed to pay R1 725 for a replacement cable and suffer without power for days. The community is looking after and protecting infrastructure and looking out for each other.

“With crime and unemployment so high, I cannot see us fixing this emergency in only 12 months. I believe the Ward 92 community will continue to stand together to report and ensure that by working together, we will slow down the level of crime and will continue to protect our infrastructure through active community programmes.

“By working closely with SAPS and the local CPF, I am hopeful that Ward 92 can become a crime-free environment.”

Infrastructure

“I cannot think of a single department that is working at an optimal level. Due to mismanagement and corruption from higher-up road teams have been trying and resurface a single road in Highway Gardens and have done some pothole repairs, but 90% of our roads need attention.

“The park teams work and go beyond their call. Despite having budget cuts and very little equipment, the department is trying to cut grass and trim trees.

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“Tackling illegal buildings seems to have ground to a complete halt with no help or action taking place. This means more illegal buildings with more bypassed meters and illegal connections. Look at Elandsfontein as an example.

“Keeping open spaces clean and free of illegal buildings is an uphill battle. We also find mass illegal dumping around our open spaces, and more often, it is our residents dumping. This means other residents clean up to keep our community clean and free of rodents.

“I encourage all residents to report illegal dumping to the city and plead with those residents who are dumping illegally to make use of the city’s landfill sites to keep Ward 92 clean.”

IPD Plan

To improve anything in the ward, we need to stand together and ensure we follow a back-to-basics plan that will focus on real problems and fixing real problems.

My IDP plan focuses on:

• Power upgrades in the entire ward.

• Woodmere and Buurendal water systems, upgrading of water and sewage infrastructure.

• Housing for eMabondeni informal settlement.

• Multi-purpose centre for Elandsfontein.

• Completion of the Klopperpark fire station together with the new Klopperpark clinic.

All five are carried over from previous years and we will continue until they are approved and implemented.