Ward 88 protesters up the ante against poor service delivery
The group is collecting signatures for a petition they will deliver to the premier, speaker of council and mayor to demand a response to their complaints.
Residents generally living in or around Ward 88 who tried peacefully protesting against poor service delivery are taking things to the next step, after they were ignored by the city.
Their peaceful protests highlighted issues of corruption, maladministration and extended power outages, among other ills that mar the administration and council.
The group, headed by Michael O’Donovan and Jusuf Dadabhay, wrote to the Premier of Gauteng Panyasa Lesufi, Speaker Colleen Makhubele and Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, requesting permission to hand over a memorandum detailing their concerns.
“Not one of the three acknowledged receipt of the request or, obviously, responded to the letter. As a result, we had to design another non-disruptive way of getting their attention, hence the petition,” said O’Donovan.
They have begun collecting signatures that will be collated with a list of complaints, photographs and other evidence of service delivery failures. These will then be presented to the three individuals.
“If the city and province continue to ignore us, our activities will be further escalated.”
The group hopes to get so many signatures from residents from their corner of Johannesburg that the three addressees will realise the following:
- The group is not going away
- The city needs their rates and service payments each month, and
- The upcoming elections will see political parties judged on how they deal with problems and issues.
Ward 88 councillor Nicolene Jonker said, “I understand the frustration of my residents in Ward 88. Even with us councillors following procedures, and submitting items for the Integrated Development Plan process timely we share their frustrations. We also pay our rates and also do not get the service delivery we deserve.”
She said she knows a resident made a PAIA (Promotion of Access to Information Act) application to see if due process was followed and how the budgets were allocated to the city, but nothing was found.
“When questions are asked in the council about service delivery, we are routinely ignored or shot down by the speaker. We were even threatened recently by the MMC for Public Safety, Mgcini Tshwaku, that we would be arrested by JMPD.”
Residents who would like to reach out to the group, or send photographs of problems in and around Ward 88, can email ward88community@gmail.com
Related article:
Ward 88 residents protest lack of service delivery and corruption
