ABM gets pro-active about service delivery

Commencing on 1 September, the team has adopted an urban management campaign called the ‘precinct management approach’.

“Precinct management in its broadest form is about the day to day operational management of a small, specific portion of the urban environment. It is focussed on areas which are small enough to be defined in terms of walking distance, and around areas which have been identified as significant hubs of urban activity, characterised by mixed land-use, and modal interchanges,” said SDB ABM area manager, Eurakha Singh.

The following precincts were determined for the project, along with some aprts of Chatsworth:

• Precinct 1: Bluff/Treasure Beach, Wentworth, Merebank
• Precinct 2: Jacobs, Clairwood, Umbilo
• Precinct 3: Lamontville
• Precinct 4: Isipingo CBD, Dakota, Prospecton, KwaMakhutha.

A co-ordinator heads up each precinct, with a team of support officers whose role is to be in the field, logging service delivery faults and issues.

“These faults are logged with e-services at the municipal fault call centre and then followed up with departments until calls are closed. This means that we are not reactive in our approach and will hopefully deal with issues before they are reported by the community. Our precinct teams will also deal with clean-up campaigns, enforcement blitzes and social issues that affect our precincts,” said Lamontville precinct co-ordinator, Sphokuhle Biyela.

“We have based this model of work on the success of the model being implemented in the inner city under the auspices of the urban management zone. Our staff have been trained and have begun work in the precinct for about two months now. It is early days yet, but we look forward to seeing a tangible difference in the area as the line departments come to the party and start to deliver for communities in a smart and integrated way,” added Singh.