Delville residents fed up, demand service delivery
“The issues have been reported several times but the relevant department seems not to be interested in assisting.
The community of Delville said it is fed up with the service delivery issues that the City has left unattended for years.
“We are tired of the conditions in Delville. We have been requesting assistance in addressing several issues in the area but with no luck,” said resident Elizabeth Mac Craig.
“It is getting worse every day and now we are left with a situation where we are not even comfortable to allow our children to play in the streets anymore.”
Asking for help
On March 30, the community called a meeting, inviting GCN, to share how difficult it has become for them to live normal lives because of the lack of service delivery and other undesirable elements.
The community said there are times that for almost three days and even more they sit without electricity. Being without water has also become a norm, with street lights not working, maintenance of the parks not happening, refuse not being collected, illegal buildings being erected and by-laws infringements occurring often.
“Winter is coming and these unplanned outages are becoming a problem. We have a number of elderly people living in the area and some are using ventilation machines and we also need to keep warm.
On top of that, we have people working from home, how are they supposed to survive if this situation continues like this?”
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Most of the residents in the area have lived there for more than 27 years and they are not planning on moving.
They said when they moved into the area a few years ago it was a good neighbourhood but over the years it has started deteriorating and that has had an effect on their property value.
Ward 39 Clr Alta de Beer said the City has not been of assistance regarding the issues of Delville.
“The issues have been reported several times but the relevant department seems not to be interested in assisting.
“During power outages when we ask for updates, the metro does not give reasons and we are left without answers,” said de Beer.
She said an urgent intervention to resolve the energy crisis in Germiston is required.
“Masina in his recent State of the City address made the statement that he ‘has set aside money for a new substation for Germsiton while we are diverting load from the second input station to reduce the short-term challenges’.
“We need updates on this substation and we demand action because as councillors we are concerned about the wellbeing of our residents,” said De Beer.
Member of Parliament Michele Clarke was also present at the meeting.
She said she is aware of the challenges and she is working with de Beer to assist where she can.
“These issues are not new, we have been fighting to find solutions for some time now and I have even brought it to parliament.
“We are not going to stop fighting for the residents,” said Clarke.
An email was sent to the City of Ekurhuleni on March 31, requesting comment.
At the time of going to print, the City had not responded.
Contact the newsroom by emailing: Marietta Lombard (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za, or (Journalists) Busi Vilakazi busiv@caxton.co.za , and Lebogang Sekgwama lebogangs@caxton.co.za.
