Ward 99 councillor sets the tone for 2020
WARD 99 – "Nothing great was ever achieved working alone but communities have flourished when all work together for a common goal," says councillor.
Ward councillor says top focus for 2020 is by-law enforcement and dealing with problematic properties.
As tough as 2019 was for Ward 99, they ended the year strong and, according to the area’s councillor Nicole van Dyk, there’s more work awaiting them. After the successful upgrade of the Roosevelt Park Substation, which included the installation of brand new mini-subs in the Linden CBD, launching an active campaign of reporting street lights that aren’t working, Joburg Water’s speedy and effective service in the area and many others, Van Dyk doesn’t look like she is planning on resting this year. Van Dyk was also pleased to see an increase in residents taking ownership of their parks and definite improvement in the use and upkeep of these public spaces.
Van Dyk, who serves in the suburbs of Blairgowrie, Cresta, Darrenwood, Ferndale, Jacanlee, Linden, Robin Acres, Robin Hills and Robindale, announced her goals for 2020. “Ward 99 is not seeing enough presence from Metro police and building control. As Region B, we need continue to try get these entities to be more responsive and efficient in turnaround time.”
She said with both departments being allocated more resources they expect to see it being utilised in their ward too.
Van Dyk wanted to remind residents to log any and all issues they have with the City of Johannesburg and insist on getting a reference number. Without doing such the City and herself have no way to track the issue and report on its progress. She added, “When you see an issue, don’t assume your neighbour will report it, you need to report it. The more reference numbers we have the more we can monitor the performance of a particular entity.”
She is also pleading with residents to bear with them whenever they have issues in the community. “It must be noted that ward councillors’ details are public and we are one person to about 25 000 residents, so email response for most councillors in within three days due to the fact that we are often in meetings, driving our ward or dealing with emergencies at that moment.”
She added that she is open to having residents contact her via direct phone call, WhatsApp message and email. In emergencies, WhatsApp is the best to use while email is the preferred method of communication for billing issues.
She wished all those in her ward a safe return home and even greater year. “Be kind to all, be patient with one another, support your local resident’s associations and ward councillors. Nothing great was ever achieved working alone but communities have flourished when all work together for a common goal.”
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