Ward 102 councillor David Potter writes:
2018 has been a busy year!
Residents have been empowered via the Look and Log campaign to look, log and escalate their City issues.
The City has resurfaced large portions of main arterial roads in the ward to include Jan Smuts Avenue, Bram Fischer Drive, Malibongwe Drive, Republic Road, Curzon Road and others.
Multiple intersections have had the Mayor’s ‘No-Join’ policy cable upgrades done to the traffic signals.
The Randburg Civic Centre has had some improvements done to improve the appearance. Queues for licence renewals at the Randburg office are better managed since the introduction of the online booking system.
Minor water pipe upgrades have taken place in Blairgowrie. There have also been faster response times to street light faults in the Ward.
The incredible residents of Bordeaux have to be thanked for the upgrading of their park as well as the residents of Ferndale and other suburbs for getting involved in cleaning up their public open spaces. And let us not forget the exciting total upgrade and relaunch of the Brightwater Commons now called Ferndale on Republic.
Some ongoing service delivery issues have not been addressed, which will need to be followed up in 2019. For example, the delay of the widening of the Conrad Drive bridge in Blairgowrie.
Ageing infrastructure continues to cause havoc resulting in electricity and water outages, the reality is that such will be ongoing for many years to come. What is encouraging is the new administration has acknowledged these problems and is putting measures in place to allocate capital budget to such.
It would be hard to commend just one person for the good work done in the past year. Many people make Ward 102 tick, and for this, I give immense thanks to the many City officials who work within their limited resources to attend to service delivery defects that arise.
My ward committee comprises of 10 individuals who look, log and champion issues in the ward to ensure that the City delivers as best as possible. I would also like to commend the many resident associations or street committee chairs and members who give tirelessly to their street or suburb.
The Executive Mayor of the City of Joburg needs to be praised for his on the ground approach to issues in a time of crisis.
I hope that 2019 will bring improved systems in the City, so that logged service delivery issues can be better monitored.
I also hope that more residents get involved in their suburb, especially with regards to town planning applications, and for residents to get involved with their local police station Crime Policing Forum (CPF).
I also want more roads in Ward 102 to be resurfaced, and more parks to be upgraded.
