Ward 9 signs petition against non-service delivery.

Heidelberg Central and Jordaan Park residents (Ward Nine) gathered for a grievance and petition signing against poor to non-service delivery from Lesedi Local Municipality on January 28.

This is the fourth petition against Lesedi Local Municipality in recent times. Shalimar Ridge was the first, followed by Jameson Park and Rensburg.

Juandré Heyneke (Ward Nine spokesperson) explained to the community the petition’s concerns and said that urgent action needs to be taken to address the issues.

Petition forms were left at strategic places around the area for concerned residents to sign.

The residents have until January 31 to sign the petition forms.

The grievances that need attention are recurring power outages, electrical power boxes not locked or not having covers, street lights not working, water outages and burst pipes, potholes and badly maintained roads, sidewalks and parks not being maintained, lack of road signs and replacing road signs, traffic lights not working or not being repaired, increase in crime, lack of enforcing municipal by-laws, local traffic law enforcement and traffic by-laws, infrastructure damages, call centre staff not being helpful or willing to assist with queries, student accommodation and areas around the student residences constantly being noisy and not taking the residents that stay in the area into consideration, Heidelberg Taxi Rank constantly full of rubbish, and pollution in the Blesbokspruit.

According to residents, Lesedi Local Municipality needs to be more proactive and notify the community when there are issues and problems that affect them.

Heyneke said “If the petitions do not have an effect we will take the matter further to ensure that the issues are dealt with in an urgent matter.

“Stop being a drifter and start being a doer. We need to stand together and work towards a goal to have Heidelberg be the town everyone wants it to be. Think positive and positivity will come our way.”