“As a city, we are doing our utmost to deliver quality services to our residents within the budget we have available,” said councillor Nico de Jager.
The Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Environment and Infrastructure Services made it clear in a recent press release that residents are responsible for looking after the communal ablution facilities.
“The city – within its available means – removes waste and services communal chemical toilets within communities up to three times a week. That way the CoJ provides some assistance to communities which would otherwise be left without services,” the MMC said.
He explained that chemical toilets are provided in informal settlements which have not been converted into formally declared townships, and are inspected routinely by inspectors from Johannesburg Water (JW). “These assessments ensure the facilities are in a good condition and protects the safety of the people using them. Should any defect be found, it must be reported immediately to the relevant contractor for correction,” he said.
The MMC also appealed to communities to take ownership of the provided facilities by keeping them clean after use and reporting vandalism to JW. “I appeal to communities to take shared ownership of infrastructure facilities made available by the City of Johannesburg (CoJ),” said the MMC.
The CoJ has a backlog of more than 300 000 units as well as an infrastructure backlog of R170 billion, which explains why communities need to work with entities such as Pikitup and JW. “This will ensure we take ownership of communal taps, combat illegal dumping and ensure the proper use of communal facilities while we work to turn the years of neglect in the building and maintenance of city infrastructure around,” he said.
Because of this, JW, Pikitup and City Power will be conducting awareness campaigns in communities about taking ownership of their surroundings.
“However, we cannot keep our city clean without the help of our residents,” the MMC concluded.
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