#LocalElections: Groeneweide, Dawn Park residents have their say

Residents want reliable electricity, working streetlights, safer roads and councillors who listen to their concerns ahead of the local government elections.

15 hours ago

Zamantolo Fakude 3 minutes read

Another big pothole in Tunny Street at the same corner.

The municipal elections are around the corner, on November 4, so Boksburg Advertiser took to the streets of Dawn Park and Groeneweide to chat to residents about their concerns and hopes for change.

From the start, residents of Groeneweide and Dawn Park called for improved service delivery and greater accountability from their ward councillors, citing ongoing issues such as electricity outages, broken streetlights, potholes, overgrown public spaces and crime as their main concerns.

Most residents said they know who their ward councillor is but had not seen their representative at community meetings.

Groeneweide resident Marvin Manoe, who has lived in the area for 26 years, said reliable communication about electricity interruptions and potholes were among his biggest concerns.

“Our main road in Groeneweide is Tunny Street, but it has the most and biggest potholes. The street becomes a one-way at times, he said.

“Power outages are a safety problem because then your home security system isn’t working. Outages also affect children who need internet access for schoolwork and parents who work from home.

“When the electricity is off, we are always told the same thing – cable theft. Sometimes it takes an hour to repair; sometimes it takes days.”

Manoe believes the community needs a councillor who regularly engages with residents and escalates problems to the municipality.

“I don’t expect the councillor to fix the problems. I expect the councillor to communicate with the community,” he said.

Fellow resident Edward Sibanyoni, who has lived in Groeneweide for five years, said residents are frustrated by delays in addressing service delivery complaints.

“We are not asking for favours. We are only asking for basic service delivery,” he said.

“We are told to log calls, but the call centre never helps us. If someone had to look at our community’s complaints logged, everything could be fixed within a week.”

Sibanyoni raised concerns about damaged roads, non-functioning streetlights and an overgrown public park, saying poor maintenance also posed safety risks.

“How do you expect my kids to run around there when the grass is this high?” he asked.

“Public parks are not maintained. Do we need to log a call for them to maintain their own facilities?”

Residents Princess Priya and Dan Motau also highlighted unreliable electricity, broken streetlights and malfunctioning traffic lights.

“We have sent CCTV footage on the community group chat of guys taking cables from the streetlight, but no one did anything about it,” they said.

“The robots at the Thomas Nkobi Memorial Park are never working.

“Residents often struggled to get responses to complaints. We also wonder why repairs don’t result in lasting solutions.”

In Dawn Park, resident Onica Phithiela said electricity interruptions affected households and businesses, particularly when power was cut without adequate notice.

“People are paying for something expensive, but you cannot get the full use of the service.

“I am scared for our middle-class generation- they can’t afford all these expenses.

“The refuse removal workers don’t take plastic bags anymore; they only take the bin so where do they expect residents to throw their grass and other waste?”

“This is why there is a lot of illegal dumping. We can’t pay for waste removal only for half of our waste to be removed.”

Phithiela also raised concerns about potholes that deteriorate after rain, streetlights that have reportedly remained broken for more than two years and illegal dumping.

She questioned why repairs appeared to gain momentum around election time.