Tania Campbell, chief whip of the Democratic Alliance (DA), says the proposed ward demarcations in many areas is problematic.
“In some cases the proposed demarcations have made vast improvements, but there are too many areas where the proposed new wards are problematic,” she says.
Areas such as Springs, Northern Boksburg, Northern Benoni, Kempton Park and Edenvale have been most adversely affected by the new proposals.
“The new layout makes no sense at all, as it is set to divide communities into separate wards, which will inevitably affect the delivery of services to these areas, as certain wards will effectively cross three boundaries,” she says.
Campbell adds that the ill thought out logic of this demarcation could mean that neighbours directly across the road fall into a different ward and even, in some cases, would be serviced by a different region.
“Ultimately, the DA warned this would lead to widespread confusion, not only for residents but for contractors employed by the metro too,” she says.
The party is very concerned that councillors, as well as ward committees, have not been approached by the ward demarcation board.
“The Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) seems to operate on its own mandate with no structures taken into consideration,” says Campbell.
The DA has two proposals which it will be submitting to the MDB for review.
However, the party says that this process has become too rushed after the MDB had to wait for the outcome of the proposal to include Lesedi into the metro which should never have been taken into account in the first place.
The DA will remain in constant communication with the residents of Ekurhuleni and encourages them to get involved and actively contribute during the Demarcation Public Participation taking place in their wards.
According to Ashor Sarupen, member of the Gauteng legislature and DA MPL of Springs, the Springs Girls’ High School will move in the KwaThema ward, which is ward 77.
“Every five years, the metro demarcates wards as the population of towns grow, but Springs has more or less remained the same and there is no valid reason to demarcate the wards boundaries,” he says.
The Addie has contacted the metro for further comment but has not received response.
