EDITOR – The letter from Marge Ferreira in a recent Berea Mail refers.
The state of Glenwood is presently very poor, and is something I am completely focused on improving. However, as Ms Ferreira rightly identifies, I work within the framework of an ANC-run municipality that often fails to provide the required services to residents. Residents who have problems dealing with the municipality will understand that councillors enjoy the same kind of service in many instances. The City Manager Sbu Sithole's sudden absence from the Save Our Berea meeting is a prime example of that attitude.
Much to my own disappointment, I am not yet Mayor of eThekwini and cannot instruct officials or swing decisions of the full council, who regularly vote down DA proposals relating to our wards. It is deeply frustrating and difficult to work in such an environment.
I must also clarify to issues on which I have been very selectively quoted by Ms Ferreira. The comments I made about Adopt-a-spot were not to excuse poor service delivery. The city must clean the streets. It was to encourage willing residents to work together to improve our community, and it was actually in response to numerous queries about it from the business and residential community.
The state of open spaces and parks is a priority for me. I have never said that the condition of parks is not going to change and people must get on with it. I have said numerous times that public spaces require a different approach as in the present format, things are not going to change. I suggested selling some parks off (there are some 66 in the Umbilo SAPS precinct, many just small patches of land) as a last resort to prevent further crime and decay if we cannot find better solutions.
The ward I serve is an incredibly diverse and challenging one. It is never-ending battle to try and get things done and I field up to a hundred queries a day. I understand that I will not appeal to everyone or have everyone agree with what I do or say. That is par for the course. As always, I welcome residents to contact me with concerns, criticism and advice. I will continue to do the best I can for this community.
Cllr Nicole Graham
Glenwood
