I live right in the middle of the area where roads are being dug up, and pipes being laid – all of this having gone on for more than two years.
Having put up with the inconvenience of detours, dirt, noise, heavy duty vehicles causing potholes, stop and go single roadways in peak hour traffic, etc., etc., I decided, after chatting to friends and neighbours, to contact our local ward councillor to try and find out just how much longer we are going to have to endure this debacle. I’m sure that the entire construction of the Sandton Gautrain took less time than the mere pipe laying going on in our area.
On 24 April, I sent an email to Ward 89’s councillor, Amelia Bester, explaining my feelings (and those of my neighbours and friends), and simply asking her how much longer this situation was to go on. I received an automated reply from her computer saying she would contact me soonest. After not getting a proper reply from her, I forwarded my message to the Democratic Alliance Head Office (on their web-site) some two weeks later. Still no reply.
Their webpage states “Meet the ward councillor working hard every day to ensure your community gets better service”. What a joke.
I have voted DA for the past 20 years, but NO MORE. Having spoken to many of my friends, they all feel the same way – that the DA is really not interested in the problems of the people at grassroots level. If they – and in particular Amelia Bester – cannot take the time or make the effort to answer a simple question from a concerned member of the community, she certainly doesn’t deserve to hold her position.
