Taxpayers took a stand

I would like to start off by saying thank you to all the residents of Rand West City who attended the meeting with the council in June.

Your time and effort is appreciated and ultimately led to a successful meeting.

We have a beautiful town and it is the responsibility of the council officials to manage the town better. We taxpayers are paying their salaries and we demand that the following concerns be attended to with immediate effect …

a. Neatness of the town itself:

Pavements and park areas must be maintained regularly. The graveyards are in a terrible state and must be fixed immediately.

b. Council offices:

Council offices, vehicles and vehicles service area are in a horrible state and of a poor standard

c. Council employees:

The behaviour of officials, neatness and dress code is not up to a professional standard. Friendliness and quicker service to the taxpayer is of utmost importance.

d. Council telephones:

The switchboard 011 411 0000 with +/- 350 extensions is not working most of the time. This is something that needs to be fixed immediately as no ‘professional services’ can be rendered without communication.

e. Qualified youth:

The youth feel that they are not being looked after as they have the qualifications but are not presented with opportunities to work for the council.

f. Debt and budget increase:

The outstanding amount owed to Eskom, approximated at R140 000 000, needs urgent attention to bring it down. The budget increase must be advertised in the next print of the Herald.

– Officials to start work at 7.30am and no food to be eaten at the employee’s desks during working hours as lunch breaks are provided by the council to employees. Desks and computers to be kept neat at all times. Productivity needs to improve drastically to serve the taxpayer in a professional manner.

– The dress code of most employees is not professional and needs to change immediately. All phone extensions to be answered immediately and professionally. Directors have to move around their respective departments to ensure that productivity increases.

– Water leak repairs have to be attended to much quicker. The R532 on business accounts is not accepted as it was never communicated to the tax payer. This amount needs to be removed from the accounts charged.

– Roads

Potholes need to be fixed in a proper manner, i.e. the previous pothole must be completely stripped and sealed from all angles before new tar is laid

– Sewage

Sewage is a major health risk and needs to be attended to as a matter of urgency

– Parks

The graveyards are in a terrible condition and need urgent attention. Pavements and general parks need to be maintained with immediate effect.

– Council vehicles are in a terrible condition and the service is dirty

– Council offices

The traffic department is very dirty. The entrance area of the water and electricity department needs urgent attention.

– Water tower

When will the water tower at Droogeheuwel be working and what will it cost?

– Eikepark

There are 600 dormant stands in Eikepark. When will these stands be up for sale?

– Salaries

Salaries of officials and councillors to be published in the Herald

*Please note that the council is now busy with fancy footwork attempting to convert commercial property to residential property and we need to stop this.

The next meeting will take place at 6pm at the Greenhills Sports Stadium show hall on Thursday, 16 August.

See you all there! We ask that you bring all the taxpayers you know of with you to the meeting.

Kind regards.