Ward 134 councillor Devon Steenkamp slammed city entities for the lack of services delivery in Kya Sands informal settlement.

According to the councillor, the busy Kya Sands Road is the entrance to the area, and it has seen too much neglect. From the broken street poles and water running from several leaks, to road surface collapse and waste being dumped all over on the side of the road. The situation raises safety concerns as there are often children walking and playing in the area.

Read more: Ward 134 problems, plans and positives

Sharing his frustrations on the state of the road, Steenkamp said that he has reported it multiple times, but there been no response to rectify the issue. “It very frustrating, that for years every time I come here there is water running down the streets and nothing is being done. I want to see just the water leaks stop flowing, because it’s really frustrating. It makes me think of how much water has been wasted. Rand Water complains that Johannesburg is losing half its water. Johannesburg Water needs to take it seriously to stop these leaks, then the road will also stop deteriorating. Residents here can at least have proper mobility to get to businesses and access their homes.”

Questions were sent to Johannesburg Water, Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA), and Pikitup. Their response will be published once made available. Steenkamp said he will urge Pikitup to assist with the regular refuse collection and tackling illegal dumping. “City Power needs to ensure that proper streetlights are working, so that people, at nighttime, can have at least a bit of safety. Crime is also a headache in the area. If all those services are just properly maintained, then at least people’s lives are better.”

He added that Kya Sands is a small example of bigger service delivery failures. “We’ve got all these service delivery entities that are responsible to maintain and to ensure that people have the service delivery. It’s in one particular road where you can see a visual of all these service delivery failures.”

Also read: Update on Ward 134 water issues

Resident and business owner Solly Molekoa explained that the road is not okay at all. “The route has been blocked by waste because of dumping nearby, informal shacks, and waste pickers.
The road has become a hotspot for robbing and killing. Nobody dares to pass there after 18:00. They rob people and take their belongings. It has affected my business and other businesses, because no client want to come to our operational fields because of the illegal activities taking place.”

He added that he’d like to see movement as usual, and the dumping being removed from the side of the road and in the community. “It would’ve been better if we had community members who volunteered to help stop illegal dumping and removing those recycling shacks near the road.”

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