Zandspruit residents left disappointed as service delivery operation allegedly skips road repairs
A multidisciplinary service delivery operation in Zandspruit informal settlement has left residents disappointed, after it focused on street cleaning and drainage instead of the road repairs they had asked for.
Citizen relationship and urban management Region C co-ordinated a multidisciplinary service delivery operation in Zandspruit informal settlement on July 9.
They conducted interventions that included the clearing of kerb inlets and road grading by Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), vegetation removal by the AFSU team, vector control by environmental health, and the removal of illegal dumping by Pikitup. However, Ward 114 councillor David Mangena said the operation did not address the community’s main concern. He said residents had specifically asked for JRA’s help in fixing the roads, but this was not carried out to their satisfaction.
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The operation targeted only Ext 10 in Zandspruit, particularly around Peu Street, an area where residents continue to grapple with poor water supply and damaged roads. Mangena said the operation did not cover the full scope of what residents wanted attended to. He said the community was left very disappointed, as residents had wanted the roads fixed, rather than the streets simply being cleaned.
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Mangena also said the operation was limited to basic service delivery matters, and did not touch on issues linked to electricity supply. He said the intervention amounted to little more than street cleaning and the unblocking of drainage, adding that there was not much more to report from the operation.
Photographs taken during the operation, however, show JRA workers using a roller to compact new asphalt over a heavily cracked and potholed section of road in the area, alongside Pikitup crews clearing illegally dumped rubble near informal traders, AFSU workers cutting back overgrown vegetation along fence lines, and environmental health officials clearing a blocked storm water drain and inspecting for pest breeding sites.
Mangena said his area inspector would be best placed to give further detail on the resources deployed for the operation, and that he would share the official report once available.
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