As tributes pour in for DA councillor and former editor, his last reflections on Johannesburg challenge us to harness civic energy – and confront entrenched dysfunction.
In one of his last columns for The Citizen before his tragic passing last week, DA councillor Martin Williams – one of our past editors – identified a sense of hope, rather than despair, for the future of Johannesburg.
After watching an energetic team from Joburg Water dealing with a burst main in his ward, Williams wrote: “Things were happening. There was a buzz. Such energy can be constructively harnessed and directed to help ensure things get done…”
Yet, around the same time, our writer Hein Kaiser, who lives in Benoni, was full of praise for an Ekurhuleni municipality which at least appears to be trying to deliver services.
The East Rand is definitely better than the City of Gold was his opinion.
Perhaps it’s just the optimism of spring, but I got a glimpse of those green shoots of municipal hope recently myself… and it left me wondering if it really is Joburg’s destiny to continue on a downward spiral.
I was contacted by City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena after I wrote a column awarding the utility an Onion for squandering money by producing videos speaking about how wonderfully well its system maintenance was going.
I also recounted my City Power tale of woe, which is only too familiar to many Joburg ratepayers.
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We were confronted with a sudden electricity termination notice, alleging we owed R28 000.
This threat, amazingly, was based not on actual readings but on 427 days of estimated consumption, following a meter replacement last year.
It goes without saying we were not informed at any stage of the change.
Fearing we would be cut off, my wife rushed to a service centre and was told the bill was correct – and could we please now start photographing our meter and sending the images through.
After paying the money, we also found our type of meter was not listed on the City Power website, so we didn’t know which reading to shoot.
Because response via the other mechanisms of City Power was non-existent, or tardy, my wife returned to the service centre… where she was told that we were, in fact, now R30 000 in credit, because our new smart meter had actually been read…
Mangena, to his credit, confirmed this is what happened and apologised.
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When was the last time you saw any government official or body do that?
But, what I found interesting was Mangena’s statement that the whole billing arrangement for City Power had been taken away from the central system and was now being done inhouse, by at least 25 newly hired people.
It would be a long process rectifying problems, he said, but they have made a start… And, I will also have to concede City Power’s techs are trying to sort the mess of decaying infrastructure, which has seen us without power for more than nine full days in the past seven months.
Williams put it this way: “If you add up all the initiatives and people right now trying to help fix Joburg, there is a sense of momentum. And hope.”
However, Johannesburg is never going to become the promised “world-class African city” unless the serious problems are tackled – and dealt with once and for all, rather than with a mere papering over so the G20 summit delegates are impressed.
Unless the city acts against those stealing electricity – and tens of billions are owed – as well as those padding tenders to line their pockets, then the best efforts of people like the Joburg Water crews and City Power billing staff will be for nought.
