WARD 10 councillor Caelee Laing is keen to continue to involve the community in their quest to become a fully functional area. With the whole of Durban’s communities overcome by the lack of service delivery, councillors have a pivotal role to play in being the communication link between the municipality and residents.
Laing has just recently taken over from the late councillor, Tex Collins, who passed away last year. She said it has been a pleasant experience working with the community and urges them to continue with their good relationship.

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Laing said her ward is engulfed by more or less the same issues that surround the city, and the solution to this is to keep a united front as a community and continue reporting issues through the correct avenues.
Explaining her role as a community leader, Laing said her day is typically filled with council meetings that require full attendance by her.
“Our role is to represent the community and help with fast-tracking their inquiries. We work with senior managers to push the resolution of long-term conditions, but we do not control what they do and when they do it – our job is multifaceted,” she said.

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Currently, Laing said she encourages residents to report issues and get a reference and report it to her. She said she keeps a list of all the reference numbers, so it is easier for her to keep track of what is happening and to fast-track things.
“A reference number is important as it confirms the complaint – it is also important for residents to report things such as streetlights not working and leaking pipes. The more people report on the same issue, the more likely it will be attended to faster,” she said.

She further encouraged residents to get involved in community civil organisations such as the Community Policing Forum (CPF) and other organisations that are available. She said this provides community members with a mostly clear understanding of how things work. It also helps them to be in the forefront of caring for the community.

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Laing said that even though getting things across to the municipality is a challenge, they have had small wins which have made the fight for service delivery worth it.
“We had a leaking pipe in the ward which we reported, going back and forth, and it has finally been fixed. We also had trees that fell and blocked driveways, and people could not move – that was also eventually fixed. So we are not really moving backwards – we should carry on,” she said.
Laing said her door is open to the community with booked appointments. “I am available on my social media pages – they also have my contact details,” she said.

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