The chief whip of Ekurhuleni council Clr Jongizizwe Dlabathi has warned against the illegal occupation of municipal land and houses, saying local government must act swiftly against the perpetrators.
Dlabathi was speaking through the Ekurhuleni Syndicate Broadcast hosted by the city’s communications and branding department in Bedfordview on April 19.
The syndicate broadcast was engineered by the City of Ekurhuleni with an aim of ensuring a broader engagement with the wider society of Ekurhuleni, via community radio stations across the region. The Siyaqhuba municipal radio programme is held once a month.
Recently, there have been some land grab incidents reported in and around Ekurhuleni.
In his appeal, Dlabathi advised residents to be patient with the municipal processes in allocated houses.
He said the municipality planned to build 100 000 houses and provide and 59 000 serviced stands.
“Twenty informal settlements had been electrified in 19 months. We have provided over 4 000 serviced stands. The results are there for everyone to see,” Dlabathi said.
“The City has 118 informal settlements and has committed itself to electrify all of them within this term of office.
However, callers could not miss the opportunity to raise their own concerns regarding some service delivery issues in their wards.
“All these mattes raised on this platform will be reported to the necessary departments and followed up as part of our oversight responsibility as council and councillors in our respective wards,” Dlabathi said.
He further encouraged residents to be active citizens by participating in community meetings when called by their ward councillors.
Speaking against maladministration and corruption he said: “Without hesitation, all acts and deeds which are intentionally undermining good governance and clean administration must be responded to through the established structures within council.”
On April 20 Dlabathi attended the City’s press club at Germiston Lake where he had an opportunity to engage with various media practitioners on issues of service delivery, governance and state coalition in the City.
He told journalist the current administration is presiding over a stable local government. “Our commitment to good governance and clean administration is a standing commitment.”
