THE eThekwini Municipality has said that “an inspection” of the Drummond area will be conducted to identify areas which need “intervention” so that a plan can be developed to “address the challenges” of service delivery, which were raised by residents during a recent community meeting.

The municipality’s spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said: “Several roads within the area fall under the jurisdiction of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport. Issues related to these roads will be escalated through the quarterly liaison meetings for their attention. Additionally, some roads are privately-owned or managed by Transnet. The City will engage all relevant stakeholders to ensure a co-ordinated and inclusive approach to resolving these matters.”

This as residents of Drummond and Peacevale had drafted a petition decrying service delivery challenges which they discussed during a community meeting held on August 26.

Residents are calling on the municipality to consider the following:

• Update/Repair old infrastructure
• Conduct a full audit of all municipal roads in Drummond
• Allocate an immediate budget to repair and resurface the worst-affected roads.
• Install adequate signage, functioning drainage systems, and safe pedestrian walkways.
• Publish a transparent road maintenance and upgrading schedule for the area.
• Collaborate with the provincial and national government to ensure coordinated and efficient delivery.

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The area’s PR councillor, Mxolisi Khubisa, said these residents, and those from surrounding communities, including Botha’s Hill, Cliffdale, and Poni Poni, among others, are calling on the municipality to “urgently address the shocking state of our infrastructure in the area”.

The area’s councillor, Linda Mchunu, said work was recently done on a section of Castle Road, which had been damaged and on a part of Duiker Road, “unless there are issues which were leftover, I can follow up to find out what happened”.

On streetlights, Mchunu said he will escalate this to the relevant department at the municipality and added that many parts of the area were affected by floods.

On sidewalks, Mchunu said this has been communicated to the relevant department at the municipality, which has undertaken to conduct inspections.

The councillor urged residents to visit his office in Botha’s Hill next to the SPAR to lodge complaints or communicate with him directly.

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