I worked in the drawing office at the Johannesburg City Council for a number of years and was paid a salary to produce drawings, which I did daily. If I did not work, I would have been fired – simple as that. Nobody sent me kind reminders to do my job or begged me to produce a drawing. I knew what was expected of me and did it every day.
Why is it then that these days we have to beg the council to fix our pavements, fix our street lights, cut the grass in parks, fix water leaks, repair potholes (temporarily because within a year they have to be repaired again).
None of these things ever get fixed unless a member of the public contacts the call centre and gets a reference and then phones continuously until eventually the matter gets attended to. The most frustrating of these occurrences is when precious water runs in the streets for weeks and nothing gets done.
If council employees do not know how to do their jobs they should be trained, and if they refuse to do their jobs they should be fired. This is the way it works in industry.
The council dug up the road on the corner of Basroyd Drive and Oudeberg Street about two years ago. The hole is now becoming a pothole, as is the area on the bend in Skukusa Road (which gets fixed every year and then breaks open again).
I have to congratulate the local community forums for having inexhaustible patience telling people on a daily basis to call and get a reference and if nothing happens the forum will escalate the matter. This is commendable but should not have to happen.
I was very involved in politics years ago and have never seen a city councillor work as hard and tirelessly for her ward as Sarah Wissler. My congratulations, thanks and admiration go to her on behalf of the entire ward.
PS. I have to give City Power their due. I have dealt with a number of their management and other staff and they have been exemplary. Why not the rest of COJ?
Ian Barry
