The people want houses

The community of Lekgotla Cluster called for housing to top government’s service delivery priority list at a meeting the African National Congress (ANC) caucus held with them on Tuesday, February 14 at Vosloorus’ Ke-Ditsilane Multicultural Village.

The meeting was part of the first of two ANC programmes which started on Monday February 13 in Spruitview and will run until Sunday February 19 – Taking Caucus to the People (TCP).

The second programme is called Know Your Councillor (KYC) and will involve councillors going door-to-door conducting oversight visits on service delivery.

At Tuesday’s meeting, ANC chief whip Jongizizwe Dlabathi, who was accompanied by the executive mayor of Ekurhuleni Municipality, Clr Mzwandile Masina, said: “We want to thank you for voting for us during the local government elections. Because of that we have decided to be close to you so that we will understand you and your needs in your wards.”

Dlabathi also encouraged the community to attend the monthly meetings that the councillors conduct with the community in their wards.

When programme director Ebrahim Motara opened the floor to community members to raise issues affecting them, he heard impassioned pleas to the municipality to attend to problematic roads, as well as a lack of bridges, taxi ranks and proper water drainage systems on the roads. Residents also asked for flushing toilets, the development of Early Childhood Development (ECD) facilities and recreational parks in the area.

They wanted the electrification of informal settlements and the development of a shopping complex in the area.

They pleaded with councillors to rid the area of drugs and create employment opportunities for the community.

But human settlements was top of the list.

Mandisa Ngubane of ward 63 asked for the exact date on which the municipality will start the housing programme in her area.

Some community members suggested that the planned projects be given to ANC volunteers from the wards in which projects take place, because most are unemployed.

Daniel Mawanga from Ramokonopi East asked the municipality to consider using private developers to build houses.

In response, Dlabathi said he would not respond to individual issues because of time.

“But I want to assure you that all the issues that you have raised have been noted and you will get responses in the next monthly meetings you will have with your ward councillor,” he said.

“Like you have asked, the issue of human settlements will be on top of the list of priorities. And the report of how we will go about dealing with it will be available in your next monthly meeting. The development of all informal settlements is on top of the list.

“When it comes to employment and skills development of youth, we have plans in the pipeline – just make sure you attend your monthly meetings and you will get response from your ward councillor,” said Dlabathi.

Dlabathi also told the community members that the projects are for the community.

“I don’t want to speak a lot about the projects that are taking place in your community because those projects are not for the ANC volunteers only, but they are for the community,” said Dlabathi.

Dlabathi concluded by saying that the ANC-led government is ready to deliver.

“To prove that we are ready, our councillors are ready to welcome you in their homes Monday to Friday. You don’t even need to make an appointment. The only day whereby you will not get councillors is when there are councillor’s meetings,” Dlabathi concluded.

After the meeting community member Nomcebo Bomvu told Kathorus MAIL she was unhappy because some of the issues that the community of Rondebult raised were ignored.

“We spoke a lot about South Boundary Road in Rondebult that needs to be fixed. I thought they were going to say something about that road but nothing has been said,” said Bomvu. She added that ANC volunteers should continue their hard work even if they were unhappy, and emphasised the urgent need for the mayor to deal with unemployment.