Westonaria Executive Mayor Nonkoliso Tundzi held her State Of The Town Address at the municipal banquet hall in Westonaria on 27 March where she addressed the challenges faced by the municipality and their achievements thus far.
According to Tundzi, despite the controversial Bekkersdal saga, the municipality is doing everything it can to ensure that services are rendered to residents of the town.
“It’s no secret that we have had differences with some of our community members and the debates have been contentious.
“However, we are working hard to ensure that we do our bit where service delivery is concerned,” says Tundzi, who adds that more still needs to be done for Westonaria “despite astounding achievements” thus far.
“We have eradicated the bucket system in Westonaria’s informal settlementsand the provision of honey suckers has also helped in easing sewerage blockages in manholes.
“This might be a drop in the ocean for some, but it really means a lot to us,” says Tundzi.
She adds that street lights have been installed in various parts of Westonaria and that certain roads have been constructed and others refurbished.
She also made mention of the fact that to date, at least 329 job opportunities were created for residents of the area through the Expanded Public Works Programme and another 2000 jobs opportunities were created under the Community Works Project (CWP) in partnership with Teba Bank and the West Rand Distsrict Municipality.
On the issue of housing, Tundzi says that since the inception of democracy, the municipality has constructed at least 5 540 houses which were given to residents.
Despite the mucipality’s evident financial crisis, Tundzi is confident that they will be able to turn things around.
Tundzi says that the municipality’s financial woes emanate from the fact that only approximately 40 percent of residents in Westonaria pay for their municipal services as most people in the area are living in informal settlements and are unemployed.
“The situation we are faced with is very challenging.
“You cannot bill the informal settlements if you do not have proper infrastructure.
“What this means is that it becomes impossible for us to collect any revenue for some of the services provided,” says Tundzi.
Overall, Tundzi is confident that the ANC-led municipality will restore Westonaria’s finances and settle the disputes with the embattled community of Bekkersdal.
Visit our website at www.randfonteinherald.co.za for more on the Westonaria State of the Town address.
