LETTER: Where are the council work teams?
We have more private companies trying to do the simple task of clearing litter and cutting grass than our municipality that we pay every month
Lauren Keys, Farrarmere, writes:
As a citizen and a rate-paying individual, who without failure pays for service delivery, I think I have a right to raise some concerns.
We all know and understand very well what the ANC has done financially in this country, as well as within the City of Ekurhuleni when it comes to budget and funds. That being said I also feel it is not an excuse anymore.
Let’s use Umgeni in Durban as an example of what a municipality can achieve in 100 days with a budget that was also depleted. In fact, they had a debt of R20m that was owed to the municipality.
With major challenges the DA in Umgeni still achieved resurfacing of several roads, stabilisation of dumpsites, grass cutting and cleaning of pavements (which is non-existent in Ekurhuleni), they also succeeded in resuming street line painting.
Having said all this, let me raise some concerns that us residents of Benoni and Boksburg are not seeing.
• No pavements are cleaned and no grass cutting gets done in the towns of Benoni and Boksburg.
• No parks are cleaned and no grass cutting has been done in our parks.
• No trees are trimmed. Great North Road is a prime example.
• Litter fills the streets of our towns and our dams with no city workers clearing this?
Therefore my question is if the waste department is working and trying to get back on schedule, a small percentage of potholes are being filled and water and sanitation are being monitored, what are all the other workers and teams doing?
Where are the city’s waste pickers? Where is the city’s grass-cutting team?
Where is the team to make sure our dams aren’t filled with litter?
Are we ratepayers paying these teams at the moment if none are working?
For the DA to win and take an outright majority to govern this country we are going to have to start seeing some huge simple task improvements.
To be honest, at this point we residents feel hopeless.
Your response to this letter would be appreciated.
Editor’s note: The Benoni City Times is awaiting a response from the mayor’s spokesperson, Warren Gwilt.
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