Water and electricity outages, sanitation, crime, poor service delivery and a perceived lack of interest from authorities are just some of the reasons residents in Ward 115 are fed up.
Ward 115 councillor Matome Mafokwane explained that roughly 60 per cent of concerns raised in his ward stem from Bloubosrand and the neighbouring Kya Sand Informal Settlement.
But some residents have directed their frustration at Mafokwane and his ward committee directly as service delivery issues continue and remedies are not forthcoming.
They complain that little has been done about these problems for a few years now.
“I have raised concerns that the ward councillor is never present at meetings. As a resident of 21 years, I have never seen Matome in the area,” said Pamie Annamalay, before outlining her concerns about illegal schools in the area – schools that have sprung up on properties that are not zoned for this.
She said flatlets are being built in properties with little regulation and the value of properties is decreasing in Bloubosrand.
Her neighbour, Pranisha Singh, added, “On behalf of the residents of Bloubosrand, we would like to express our concern and anger over having a ward councillor that does nothing to help the residents of our neighbourhood.
“We have to suffer for up to three days at a time on a regular basis without water. I can’t even tell you how often this happens.”
She accused Mafokwane of ignoring messages and phone calls from the community.
In response, Mafokwane said his contact details have not changed in nine years and residents are welcome to contact him after they have reported issues to City entities first.
The ward councillor said he is available on email or phone – where he will respond through voice, text or WhatsApp.
“I do know the majority of Bloubosrand frustrations are to do with the informal settlement and the belief is the settlement is the reason Bloubosrand has problems,” he said.
“My message to residents of Bloubosrand is the only option on the table is to support formalising the settlement as the current state of the settlement is not [conducive] for the area. A well-kept developed settlement will have huge benefits to not only the settlement but larger areas, including Bloubosrand.”
He said once the area is proclaimed, formal services can be introduced such as electrification, provision of drinking water, sanitation, refuse removal and more.
“Take crime prevention and crime-fighting as an example,” Mafokwane added.
“As things stand, the men and women in blue have a difficult task in dealing with crime prevention strategies because the area is congested and not easily accessible. With open streets and better layout, we can have EMS, police and other services workable.”
Furthermore, public meetings are held to address specific issues and residents are encouraged to join these.
“I urge both communities to accept each other and learn to co-exist as it is in their best interest to do so. The Integrated Development Plan (IDP) models of the future will see developments that have mix-use [residences]. Mix-use developments is a model that will see up-market homes next to low-cost homes.”
Details: Ward 115 councillor Matome Mafokwane mafokwane.mvg@gmail.com 084 854 4950.
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