Councillor vows to pursue a solution

Madam – I am always amazed at how politicians(councillors) are begging votes from the people by making promises they cannot keep during election time but when it comes to service delivery they are nowhere to be found. Let me explain:

My home is located at the Heuwel Avenue / Victoria Street T-junction in Newcastle. There are two speed humps in Victoria Street on either side of this junction with one directly in front of my home. Victoria Street is one of the busiest streets in Newcastle. The traffic volume is extremely high.

Many vehicles, including light motor vehicles, and all sorts of heavy motor vehicles travel on this road day and night.

The problem is that the speed humps are low enough so that speeding motor vehicles can race pass my house at full speed, totally disregarding the speed humps. The countless heavy motor vehicles that include passenger buses, construction trucks, delivery vehicles etc. that drive over the speed humps slam into these speed humps with such force that that each wheel hitting the speed hump sends a tremor through my whole house!!!

I literally experience earthquakes many times each and every day 24/7 and I am getting sick of it!!!!! As a result some of my exterior and interior walls have started to crack. The noise levels when these trucks bump into the speed humps are also deafening. All in all it is making my life miserable.

During October 2013 I contacted the ward councillor, Bebsie Cronje to assist me in solving this problem. Mrs Cronje promptly visited my home and saw first hand the extent of the problem. Months went by without any action. On 27 January 2014 after not receiving any feedback from Mrs Cronje I decided to contact her.

She told me she did not yet have time to deal with the matter… The same day I addressed a letter to our honourable mayor and municipal manager. I received an email stating that my complaint will be directed to the relevant department. As I am writing this letter on 30 September 2014 nothing has been done about my problem. No one has made the effort to contact me. I am utterly disappointed. I am thinking of taking matters into my own hand by removing the humps myself.

Would you be able to get answers from Mrs Cronje or municipal officials? The question is: What is the purpose of these ward councillors?”

Mr Andrey Els

Response from Bebsie Cronje, Ward 2 DA Councillor:

I take note of the letter regarding the problem at this resident’s house in Ward 2 and I thank you for the opportunity to reply.

After the matter was reported to me, the resident will recall meeting at the mentioned property. It is regrettable that most people do not even meet their councillors when they are called upon.

As a matter that I have on record, the issue raised was reported telephonically to the Technical Services Department. My records further show that on the 24th of February 2014 I send an email to the Portfolio Councillor, in this case the deputy mayor, the SED of Technical Services, as well as copied other responsible people in the department. This correspondence is available to the complainant as well as to yourselves for inspection should you so wish.

Subsequently, via email, the Deputy Mayor stated the she would attend to the matter on 26 February 2014. On the same day I replied to her, stating the importance of this matter because of the cracks referred to, appear to be growing by the day. I received a call from one of the Technical Services personnel who informed me that he had visited the site and that we need to have a task team investigating this matter.

In that conversation I also suggested that a 3 way stop street at this intersection is essential to ensure safety of road users. I hope his promise to follow up on this is not just another hollow one.

There was a period in which this matter lay dormant. Many residents who contacted me during this period will recall that I was indisposed due to ill health and managed what I could from my bed. However, on the 16th of October 2014 (and that was before I was made aware of this letter) I have on record another email sent to the same Technical Services Department asking them to please investigate the possibility of a 3-way-stop at the intersection, AGAIN!

The Technical services SED was kind enough to respond to my emails eventually and ask that the buck – of the three way stop sign and the promises – is passed onto the community services department.

I shall continue to pursue this matter until the interdepartmental roller coaster eventually stops, sense prevails, and the matter is finally resolved without the need to waste more time. The resident is also more than welcome to visit or call or alternatively arrange for me to visit so that I may expose the tardiness with correspondence in hand. My contact number is: 073 941 1846.