Alta de Beer, Ward 39 councillor, writes:
The year that was will be remembered as a year of continuous service delivery issues, especially of rolling power outages.
It was a very stressful time for residents and business owners, and more specifically small business owners.
The ailing economic situation in South Africa has not made it any easier, as it has resulted in more job losses than ever before.
This is evident in our ward, as more families are battling as both parents are jobless.
My wish for 2020 is that the metro will understand the importance of unlocking capital and grant funding to ensure that the overdue upgrades to our infrastructure are implemented as soon as possible.
This could help kick-start the local economy and create much-needed employment.
But, to all the residents who are dependent on electricity for business and health reasons, please start planning for alternative solutions as honestly speaking, I am sure these rolling power outages are going to continue well into 2020.
I will be handing over a petition to the parliamentary energy committee in January to request that the committee appoint an independent consulting company to investigate the irregular power outages in Germiston.
I will also ensure that I secure a public meeting with the mayor early in 2020 in order to create a platform for residents to raise concerns regarding service delivery.
Though I am on leave until January 6, I will be able to assist the community via SMS and WhatsApp.
Please remember to first log any service delivery issues with the metro’s call centre by calling 086 054 3000, by sending an SMS to 30788 (remember to start with the word EMM, before typing out the complaint and address) or on the My Ekurhuleni App.
No issues will be escalated without a reference number.
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Contact the newsroom by emailing: Melissa Hart (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za, Leigh Hodgson (News Editor) leighh@caxton.co.za or Ashley Kiley (Journalist) ashleyk@caxton.co.za.
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