The West Rand District Municipality has responded to a report by the Solidarity Research Institute which alleged that West Rand Municipalities have been rated as the worst in Gauteng.
In his response, WRDM spokesperson, Dennis Mangope, says that the findings of the research are very much appreciated as it helps to enhance service delivery, although he feels that some of the issues need to be clarified and put in perspective.
According to Mangope, much of the problems experienced in West Rand Municipalities are due to ageing infrastructure as well as the continuous influx of people into the West Rand – especially into Westonaria.
Mangope says that to help combat especially water losses, 50 young people in Westonaria have been trained and appointed to identify and solve water loss problems in the area.
Speaking on the apparently high levels of dissatisfaction among residents of the West Rand, Mangope says that the WRDM has public participation structures and platforms where members of the public can engage with their leaders and where they can air their concerns.
“Contrary to the findings of the research, this apparent dissatisfaction has not been raised on these platforms,” says Mangope.
“As the municipality, we take customer, or community satisfaction very seriously and we are at the advanced stages of preparing to commission a community satisfaction survey of our own.
“We appreciate the fact that indeed water supply, sanitation, waste disposal, roads and the cost of services and billing were issues raised by the community during our previous IDP Meetings and Council has since addressed those needs.”
Mangope says that, in the case of Randfontein, recent years have been victories for the municipality.
He says that despite all the success of the municipality, some challeenges were also encountered.
“Water losses, faulty meters, non-payment of basic services, unemployment and the rate of crime are a few challenges that could be stated, but these are being addressed.
“The department of infrastructure has embarked on a mission to maintain the standards and faulty meters have been fixed. “The installation of new meter boxes and constant checking of illegal connections came in handy and the rate of illegal connections has been reduced.
“Due to commitment and teamwork, these challenges are not insurmountable and various corrective measures have been put in place.
“Residents are constantly encouraged to take charge of any water leaks and pay for services including making arrangements on accumulated arrears.”
