29POLOKWANE – The November 1 local government election signifies the end of a five-year term for councillors in office.
The Polokwane Municipality has five different political parties represented in council. Polokwane Observer spoke to the parties to reflect on the work they have done over the past five years to ensure public service is rendered to the people.
Mpe joined council on September 3 after he was redeployed by the ANC from his mayoral position at the district municipality. Since his appointment he has managed to engage the major stakeholders in the municipal areas as well as host cluster community meetings.
“The reception by the community was overwhelming everywhere I went. By visiting them I have shown that the municipality will be taking its work seriously by bringing service delivery to the people. During some of the cluster visits municipal officials were rendering services as well.”
Mpe has also cancelled one Leeto La Polokwane project after he went onsite and there was no work rendered. “Municipal service providers need to provide the services they have been contracted for. We are doing away with contractors who don’t perform according to standard.”
Ramaphakela says the approval of the language policy which allows all official languages to be used in council was a win for Polokwane residents as it allows anyone who appears in council to be able to speak in their own preferred language.
“A motion for the changing of Jack Botes Hall to Ike Maphoto has been tabled and is in progress. The procurement of municipal water tankers to scrap off the contracts and the debt from indigents that was written off after they were incorrectly billed is the work of the EFF.”
He says above that they have accelerated service delivery complaints as well as donated necessities to the needy community while lending a hand to fight crime.
He says the DA water app that was created to allow residents to track the water supply in the city is one of the milestones of the DA. “The app allowed residents to indicate if they had water or not, and whether they needed a water tanker. This helped to identify which areas had low supply and residents could also indicate the water pressure.”
The DA also assisted with providing phones and data plans to service providers who had been outsourced for water tankers where residents could send them a message on a WhatsApp line and the operator would respond with the location of the tanker and where it would be in which area.
Joubert says the tabling of a consequence management policy was also a highlight even though the policy is in draft version.
This policy will make provision on how officials who are found guilty of any wrong doing will be held accountable for their actions. “We are hopeful that the final version will be done soon and adopted into council. This policy will assist in the overall running of the municipality.”
She only joined council towards the end of 2020.
“During this time I have managed to assist residents with service delivery complaints on a daily basis. There are always issues with streetlights, billing, sewage and water. I have managed to assist each person who has asked for help and that’s how the FF+ works, by being there for residents in their daily lives. The intervention at the municipal swimming pools was also one of the issues I helped to resolve.”
She has also started the process of assisting the homeless people on Excelsior Street by finding a place where they can be accommodated. This includes roping them into a renewable energy project that will see them assisting with waste collection in order to convert it to energy as an alternative source for the municipality.
“Although the plan has not materialised yet, I want to assist them as well as the business people in the area. If they can be accommodated elsewhere then business in that area will increase because currently some people are anxious about having to go there.”
