Ward councillors are often the only city representatives that many residents have access to, and in times of distress with service delivery, they want answers.
Unfortunately, councillors’ roles and responsibilities are carefully ringfenced and they may not instruct or tell city officials like City Power technicians what to do, not under any circumstances.
For those councillors that are engaged and doing their best to assist their communities, the strain can be overwhelming.
During a recent power outage in Montgomery Park, for example, Ward 88 councillor Nicolene Jonker shares a behind-the-scenes blow-by-blow account of what transpired.
She does this only for illustrative purposes for one incident. “We have so many fronts that we work on which we have to simultaneously manage and keep track of when trying to assist residents.”
Below too is a public communication from Ward 86 councillor Chantelle Fourie-Shawe dealing with a water leak in Bergbron, again a multi-day event that required constant follow-up and attention.
Incidents result in sometimes hundreds of individual messages from frustrated community members wanting to engage with their councillor within short periods of time, who at times, expect individual responses.
These councillors say that they do their work to the best of their ability but do not shy away from acknowledging their frustrations too at poor service delivery, something they are unable to meaningfully improve on behalf of those they were voted in to represent.
Nicolene Jonker Ward 88
Saturday night, 3 June
- 20:59 Roosevelt substation trips
- 21:17 I received reports of attempted cable theft.
- 21:30 I arrived on-site at the corner of Milner Avenue and John Adamson Drive and immediately contacted Brigadier Ndebele from the Sophiatown police.
- 21:52 Police arrived on-site as did an ambulance for the two suspects, one of whom received a shock from the electrical cable.
- 23:08 The ambulance left, and evidence was collected by the police. I advised the community that again City Power did not have night-shift technicians. This meant residents would be without power until the day shift started work.
Sunday, June 4
- 08:03 I requested the first update from the communications team at City Power
I followed up with Risk Contol too and our team leader to ensure the suspects who targeted our community are criminally charged. - 09:57 Permits were issued to City Power subcontractors to repair the cable.
- 12:33 I advised City Power that nobody was on-site to do the repair.
- 12:38 I was told the technicians were collecting cables and other items needed.
- 13:45 I went to the site again to confirm for myself that no work had begun, nor was anyone there from City Power.
- 14:23 I received photographs of the stock being collected and shared them with the community to give some hope that work would begin soon.
- 15:49 Contractors on-site and digging commenced repairing the cable.
- 19:30 I went back to the site to observe the work being carried out.
- 20:20 The first joint on the one side of the cable began which is a very lengthy process. While I was there, City Power operators came to check on the team as did several community members. They also assisted with traffic control at the intersection as the lights were out because of load-shedding.
- 22:00 I left the site, but community members and private security were still assisting where they could. Dimitri Syriopoulos, a CPF patroller said he would assist me by sending further updates as they came.
- 02:19 I was notified by City Power that the work was completed, and they are ready to restore power.
Monday, June 5
- 05:59 I alerted City Power that power had not been restored.
- 06:49 I was advised that the day shift operators would affect the electricity restoration.
- 08:58 Power was finally restored.
Chantelle Fourie-Shawe, Ward 86
“The latest string of crises – not only in Ward 86 but across the city – has left us as councillors running from one crisis to another. There is no political leadership in sight but as the elected official for the area, I will keep fighting for basic service delivery. We need to stand together as a community against a failing government, united in hope.”
Below is a message she sent to her community following a recent water crisis in Bergbron. An incident of this nature takes several days to resolve with naturally concerned residents hoping to be heard and kept updated with developments.
Bergbron water crisis update, June 6
Dear residents of Bergbron and surrounds, these past few days have seen one crisis after another as Joburg Water (JW) pipes burst daily and a sewer leak flowed into a freshwater pipe. This prompted JW to close off water to several streets due to possible contamination.
A water sample has been sent to a laboratory for testing and the results are expected to return in about six days, meaning towards the end of this week.
JW said: “The lab results will advise if further flushing needs to be done. Once results indicate that the water quality is according to standards, water will be restored. Customers in the affected streets are requested to refrain from utilising water from the network until further advised.”
An alternative supply is available through water tankers. I have alerted JW that a truck has not yet been in the area today.
In addition to this, there have been continuous water bursts in and around Bergbron. The latest update I received from JW on this is the following:
“I will look at the system holistically and prepare an emergency request to replace pipes in the area tomorrow. This burst won’t stop because it’s winter, AC pipe tends to behave like this with one burst that then moves to the next weakest section.”
I have asked for feedback on this request yesterday and today again. As soon as I get more info, I will share another update.
In the meantime, I will escalate each burst *IMMEDIATELY* once a ref number is obtained, even though the turnaround time is 48 hours.
Please send it to me in the following format
- Name and Contact:
- Exact Address of the leak:
- Ref no:
- Date and Time reported:
I hope this will convey the seriousness of the issue to JW. Please assist by reporting each leak, like a vote, it truly does matter.
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