Fourways residents plead for the betterment of their area
Residents plead to get the service that they pay for.
Service delivery has been deteriorating in the area of Fourways in the past months and this was said by residents who are seeking answers. Complaints range from electricity, water leaks and bursts, noise complaints, clean-ups and more. In previously reported events, residents complained that it takes over two months for an issue to be attended to.
In recent articles by the Review, noise complaints have increased thus resulting in people saying the JMPD is not helping. Noise from rooftop bars, restaurants and construction has been depriving residents of sleep. A number of people have approached the Review with nowhere else to turn because they are not being heard. It was previously reported that when a resident lodges a noise complaint, the JMPD arrives and the noise stops for that one night and the next day it’s back to square one.
According to the JMPD spokesperson Superintendent Xolani Fihla, officers do attend to noise complaints, but it is not easy for them to shut down any legal establishment without approval from the court. “Environmental Health has devices to measure noise levels; JMPD does not. The legal procedure is to notify them of the noise occurrence, after which they will come out and take measurements. Should it surpass the designated threshold, they will petition the court to obtain an injunction compelling JMPD to respond and close the property,” he said.
Fihla explained that to report any unbearable noise one can contact the City of Joburg Environmental Health Department on
011 375 5555 and suspicious activities outside the premises to JMPD on 011 375 5911 or the local police station.
Power cuts have also been in the mid of the issues around service delivery. The bad weather affects the poles which causes cable faults. Traffic lights start flashing because of cable theft, but residents say it is the municipality’s job to repair these faults. Residents now plead for road safety. It was previously reported by the Review that the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) spokesperson Bertha Peters-Scheepers said that in the past three years alone the entity has spent over R15m to rebuild vandalised traffic intersections, though Ward 94 councillor David Foley feels otherwise about the JRA being present in communities.
Relating to the issue of water bursts and water leaks, Foley said, “There have been serious delays with water leaks awaiting TLBs to dig and expose the leak. Some extreme leaks took eight months to rectify, which is a complete waste of water. The JRA is absolutely absent in my ward based on resources being allocated to areas that only contribute a fraction of rates in comparison to Ward 94 residents so I get questioned daily as to why residents pay rates when it is used elsewhere.”
Residents plead to be listened to because they pay for these services.
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