Office of Ombudsman engages with Rabie Ridge community

The office of the Joburg Ombudsman kicked off its third leg of engaged citizenry at Rabie Ridge Community Centre on March 19.

These engagements are aimed at improving issues of governance, which include efficient service delivery and safeguarding residents’ basic rights.

The office of the Ombudsman was in Ward 80 to engage with the community, gather their concerns and issues and offer assistance where officials could.

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In addition, the officials were the middleman between the community and various departments in the City of Joburg. They collected information and divided it between departments for them to act on it.

Ombudsman for the City of Johannesburg advocate Siduduzo Gumede said his team was conducting investigations in various regions.

“My team and I want to compile a draft report that will be submitted to various departments that can help solve multiple crises in the community.

“There are processes to follow in reporting issues and when we access problems, we find that most people do not follow the right steps when they report problems.”

Elvis Maremane from Ward 80 said communities need to be educated about service delivery.

“We need service delivery institutions to visit our communities in numbers to offer education about services, billing and services they pay for.

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“We have people who are living without water and electricity yet they are not educated enough on the processes and how to fix them properly.

“We have informal settlements that have been erected since 1993 and residents still have no electricity. Many of them have connected electricity illegally but they are willing to pay for the electricity and other services.”

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