Service delivery in Witgatboom Avenue remains unsolved
Witgatboom Avenue resident Mark Lodder says he received emails saying his reported cases have been closed but he doesn't understand why because they haven't been resolved.
The community of Witgatboom Avenue continue to face the same problems that were reported on the Kempton Express’ March 9 edition earlier this year.
Resident Mark Lodder questioned the efficiency of the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) and his ward councillor Jaco Terblanche.
The issues started with a big water leak bordering Action Park around five years ago.
Lodder said that the situation has not changed over five years and there seems to be no end in sight for the growing list of problems faced by residents.
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“We are still faced with a mosquito problem because of the water in the park and our councillor and the municipality don’t seem to care,” he said.
“Another major issue that we have complained about is the streetlights. Both Monument Road and Witgatboom Avenue are pitch black at night.
“There have been multiple hijackings in the area and I have had to spend around R22 000 on security upgrades because burglaries are also on the rise.”
Contrary to claims that there are no cables in the park, CCTV footage from Lodder’s cameras shows electrical sparks from one of the lights in the park.
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Lodder’s theory is that water from the leak reached the base of the lights in the park.
“The result is that an entire section of lights on Monument Road and Witgatboom Avenue stopped working.”
He said a manhole cover was also stolen by thieves at the intersection of Monument Road and Witgatboom Avenue while lights were out.
“The cover was replaced but it does not fit and it was just left like that.”
Lodder also lodged a complaint about a small portion of the road near his gate that needed back-filling.
While the back-filling was done the quality of the workmanship has been called into question.
“As the community, we would be very pleased if our ward councillor and the City of Ekurhuleni could do their jobs and assist the community.”
In response to the March 9 article in the Kempton Express, Ward 16 Clr Jaco Terblanche said he had been following up on several issues brought up by Lodder.
“At the end of January, I had a meeting with the electricity department with regards to the streetlights in Ward 16, which included the lights in Witagatboom Avenue as well as Monument Road.
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“The department acknowledged that there were material shortages, which is why they could not conduct necessary repairs,” he said.
Terblanche added that it took the department six months to fix the leak in the park because the department was under the impression that Action Park wasn’t a wetland.
“The leak in front of Lodder’s house was fixed two weeks after it was reported. During this period, there were massive water pipe bursts in the ward,” he said.
“The backfilling of the road took a month and I’m aware that Lodder is not happy with the work done. I’m still attending to this complaint with the department.”
The Express reached out to Terblanche for an update on attending to the Lodder’s grievances.
“I report all the complaints to different departments of the City of Ekurhuleni and then I provide feedback to the community,” he said.
“There were four water pipe bursts on October 25, including in Witgatboom Avenue.”
City of Ekurhuleni spokesperson, Zweli Dlamini, said the CoE has a system where it does check-ups on reported cases before it closes them.
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“The customer may provide their physical address and reference number, should they still not have power, we will prioritize and assist,” he said.
Dlamini added that Monument Road has been serviced, however, there is an increase in streetlights vandalism in the Kempton Park area.
“Some streetlights may have been vandalised after being serviced.”
