Speaker of Council in Kliptown for municipal issues
The Speaker of Council, Cllr Vasco da Gama met with various departments and officials at the Soweto Hotel in the Walter Sisulu Square on Monday, July 11.
The Speaker of Council, Cllr Vasco da Gama met with various departments and officials at the Soweto Hotel in the Walter Sisulu Square on Monday, July 11.
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The Speaker of Council was addressing issues that had been raised by ward 17 councillor, Dwain Ponsonby at a joint oversight committee (JOC) in order to engage with them and to facilitate a better working relationship between departments.
The morning began with a briefing about the greater Kliptown area in Region G. Regional Director, Mickey Padiachee chaired the meeting where the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC), Johannesburg Water, Joburg Roads Agency (JDA) Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and other departments gave briefings to several Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMCs) and local area councillors on the current status of their projects in the region.
The on-going issues of overflowing drainpipes and sewage in the greater Kliptown area which, in turn, cause damage to the roads need the departments to come together to find workable solutions.
This was the first meeting of the current administration to bring the community and business to work together to bring transformative change to the Soweto Hotel and the market in the Kliptown Square.
Cllr da Gama wanted to hear what is being done and what can be done. Concerns about immediate issues were raised with the entity or department concerned and a timeline for repairs was asked for.
There was a consensus amongst the MMCs that departments needed to improve communication between themselves in order to ensure that at this most basic level of government, residents are not the ones who fall through the cracks.
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Following this robust and productive discussion, Cllr da Gama, Cllr Ponsonby, Mickey Padiachee, the MMCs, other councillors from the area and officials all took a walk around the square to inspect the blocked drains, the condition of the roads, the security issues at the conference centre and the market.
The tour continued at the Kliptown Community Centre and along Main, Beacon and Boundary roads and Union Avenue to visit the sites that had been discussed.
During the morning, the immediate service delivery problems, removal of illegal dumping, cleaning up of litter and repairing of streetlights was underway.
Environmental health workers were also on sight with a campaign to improve the awareness of residents of the by-laws that affect environmental health in communities.
Progress from these directorates are said to be monitored.
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