Youth trained to maintain water meters
Mayor of Ekurhuleni Mzwandile Masina recently announced a new Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) which will see 300 youth enter a three-year apprenticeship to enable them to maintain water meters.
The programme is intended to create sustainable artisanal jobs and phase out dependency on external contractors who undertake the installation, repairs and maintenance of water meters at Ekurhuleni.
Through a partnership with Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges (TVET), beneficiaries will exit the programme as qualified artisans, having obtained a trade test certificate and a vocational qualification, simultaneously.
The programme has two components: a six-month theory and practical plumbing apprenticeship at an accredited TVET college, followed by 24 months of experiential training within the metro’s Department of Water and Sanitation.
The metro has identified water governance as an immediate remedy to improve water use efficiency, and reduce non-revenue water in the municipality.
Non-revenue water in the metro is currently standing at 34.7 per cent and the long-term target is to reduce this figure to 20 per cent (by 2023) in line with the metro’s water demand management strategy.
Use My Ekurhuleni App properly
The Ekurhuleni metro has observed that residents who are using the My Ekurhuleni App to log service queries are using incorrect information, prolonging the times to resolve their queries.
This results in a non-response as dispatched officials cannot find the location for which the queries would have been logged.
This means there is a waste of public resources and backlog on other queries.
To avoid having unresolved service interruption issues, users are encouraged to ensure that the location functionality on their phones is always on and should click on the “current location”.
Those logging a call from home while they are at work, for example, need to ensure they enter the correct home address.
The My Ekurhuleni App encompasses all key local government services such as making burial site requests, reporting potholes, locating municipal and state facilities and the metro’s contact directory.
Citizens with basic and feature phones can report service delivery issues via a USSD (*134*30263) option at no cost and those using smartphones can log queries through the mobile app at minimal data costs.
The following reporting channels can be used:
• Free SMS: 30263
• Call Centre: 086 0543 000
• USSD *134*30263
• Email: call.centre@ekeurhuleni.gov.za
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Outdoor advertisers warned to adhere to by-laws
The Ekurhuleni metro has launched Operation Lungisa to get rid of illegal advertising material from the street by deploying Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) employees to identified hotspot areas.
The illegal advertising is on street poles, traffic lights, dustbins, bus stations, electrical infrastructure and other municipal property.
The central business districts (CBDs) are the targeted areas due to the high number of foot traffic that attracts the illegal advertisers.
The operation is being carried out with the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD).
Removed signs and mobile billboards will be impounded to the metro’s storage facility until the owners claim them. They will be issued with applicable penalties.
According to the metro’s Billboards and the Display of Advertisements by-laws, no person shall erect or display any advertising signs or advertisements painted on a boundary wall, bridges, any water tower, reservoir or silo and all non-locality bound painted advertisements.
Among the forbidden signage are banners and flags that advertise sale promotions or commercial products or events, or banners suspended across a road, affixed to a bridge spanning a road.
The metro’s Outdoor Advertising Management Committee (OAMC) keeps a register of all approved signs or advertising structures, and allocate them a unique registration number that is displayed on the sign as approved.
For more information contact the following Outdoor Advertising Control officers:
Germiston: Susan Wilson 011 999 999 0974 or Susan.Wilson@ekurhuleni.gov.za
Kempton Park: Thandiwe Moloi 011 999 3661 or Thandiwe.Moloi@ekurhuleni.gov.za
Springs: Phumla Tshiqi on 011 999 3667 or Phumla.Tshiqi@ekurhuleni.gov.za
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