AS they wait to officially start their duties in September, the Manor Gardens Urban Improvement Precinct (MGUIP) has called on residents and the Ward 101 councillor, Simphiwe Khanyile, to play their part in restoring the area to its former glory.

Deidre Taylor, the MGUIP secretary, said lately there has been a noticeable shift and decline in service delivery to the area. Taylor said uncut verges, burst pipes, illegal dumping and low hanging trees are some of the concerns that residents face.

“We cannot wait a month for repairs to the roads or a burst pipe, faulty electricity and for fallen trees to be removed from the road. What is happening right now gives no confidence that things are going to get better, it’s disheartening to see such neglect,” said Taylor. “The lack of service delivery is frustrating. On social media platforms like WhatsApp people are saying, ‘we cannot wait until the UIP starts because this is going to all change now.’ But it can only change if the municipality and the residents step up.”

She said “a buy-in from residents” is needed to rescue Manor Gardens. “Simple things like cutting the grass in front of your house, picking up litter and planting flowers in open places can make a huge difference to how the street looks and feels.”

Taylor said the residents of Manor Gardens have the mindset that they can throw litter anywhere and that someone will pick up after them which is exacerbating the situation.

Also Read: Manor Gardens UIP awaits green light from City

She said, “The community needs to take responsibility for their area and stop leaving junk on the streets because the area will become an illegal dumping site like what happed to Dale and Archer roads. Going forward, the mindset of residents needs to change because we cannot be using the UIP’s money for things that are your responsibility.”

The allegations of neglect were, however, disputed by Ward 101 councillor Khanyile. He said according to demarcations, Manor Gardens is divided in two, with Mazisi Kunene Road creating a border between Ward 101 and Ward 33. Khanyile said Ward 101 starts from one side of Mazisi Kunene Road until Cato Crest.

He said, “It is not true that there is no service delivery in the area; the grass cutting and road repairs have been affected by the rains. There were complaints about burst pipes but they were escalated to the municipality and subsequently repaired.”

Khanyile said there were challenges with grass cutting in roads like Mary Thipe and Queen Elizabeth which have been resolved. “As we speak, grass cutting crews are on the ground, work is going ahead. The main challenge that we had was the weather and the municipality is aware of the issues,” said Khanyile.

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