The Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) held a special Council meeting last week (19 June) and reiterated its commitment to serving the community.
The meeting focused on the adjustment of the budget that will be made in accordance with the needs of the community.
Speaker and councillor, Violet Nqina-Mzondeki started by saying that the excuse that the RWCLM is a new town can no longer be accepted. She also reminded councillors of their roles and responsibilities.
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“In our work as representatives of our people, particularly as elected representatives, we have a responsibility to advance the views and aspirations of our respective communities in a common and integrated way. The norm of being distant and disconnected from our communities should be a thing of the past.
“People can no longer eat our excuses and it’s our role as both the administration and political leadership to crisscross the country and mobilise resources that should be invested in the infrastructure development of our communities.
“As we today prioritise and seek to approve the 2019/2020 Integrated Development Plan and its budget, we are left with a huge task of speeding up and lifting our performance both as a municipality and elected servants of the people. One of the important and immediate responsibilities is the integration of our people. The continued disintegration of the then two towns does not justify our purpose of moving together forward. The issues our communities face can never be addressed if we continue viewing these communities as being separate.”
She said the most disgruntled and dismayed sector of society is young people.
“It should be the prerogative of this municipality and any institution, both public and private, to advance youth development through various identified means. We can no longer be silent when high numbers of young people continue to be unemployed, unskilled and unempowered. For our procurement processes, employment processes and outsourced services, we need to develop a quota system that is reserved for young people of this town.”
She added as their term will come to an end in 2022, and people will judge them as both individuals and political parties on the level of commitment in serving them and improving their lives.
“We have experienced some significant achievements, but notably the challenges we continue to face are long overdue and continue to cloud every initiative we have had.”
Regarding staff dissatisfaction, she said, “We cannot continue to have service points being shut down because we have dysfunctional council committees”.
She concluded by saying that the municipality has the serious task of mapping a way forward so that they could address the challenges residents are facing.
Balderic Dryer, DA branch chairperson in Ward 8 said, “I see we are not increasing our internal funding. It is the sole vehicle for services delivery and job creation.” Dryer added that the municipality has a responsibility towards those who have been disadvantaged.
Betuael Muntai, councillor and EFF representative criticised the municipality’s financial management, saying many residents within the municipality are in need of land, therefore the municipality should consider donating some portions of it. Munyai added that in most cases, these portions have been occupied, but that the municipality has to ensure that basic services are provided to the poor and the needy.
Among the issues the Speaker said would be looked into are rates and taxes, and the state of the roads. She added that many of these issues have left many dissatisfied.
“We also have a concern about the payment plans of wards. It is scary because you get a ward that is being serviced, yet in such wards payment for services is poor. In other wards the residents pay for services, but struggle to get the services they pay for, which is unfair,” Nqina-Mzondeki added.
THE MUNICIPALITY VS RESIDENTS EIGHT DAYS EARLIER
Eight days earlier, the RWCLM held an Integrated Development Plan (IPD) and Budget Review Road Show for the 2019/ 2020 financial year. They held the meetings at 12 different venues within two days.
At the meeting in Greenhills on Tuesday, 11 June, it was revealed that R2,024 billion has been allocated to provide services.
Brenda Mahuma, the RWCLM’s MMC for Housing, said there is a proposed move to increase tariffs for services; namely water (7,9 per cent), electricity, (13,7 per cent), property tax on agricultural holdings as well as other properties (6,4 per cent), refuse removal (6,4 per cent), sanitation (6,4 per cent), and sundry charges, such as cemeteries and rental of municipal facilities (10 per cent).
“As we present this draft budget, you will take note that our maintenance and repair budget has decreased due to the declining collection of rates and taxes,” Mahuma said.
She urged members of the community to make sure that they pay for the municipal services they consume, so that the municipality can further improve its services. She also assured the residents that the municipality has committed itself to heeding the issues they raised in previous IDP meetings, adding that Thursdays and Fridays will be used to improve service delivery backlogs.
However, residents of Baipei in Ward 3 were not happy when the MMC announced that the municipality will not install electricity. Instead, they will be relocated to Afri-Village. The MMC said those residing in other informal areas such as Badirile, Master, Elandsvlei and OR Tambo will also be relocated.
She said promises fulfilled include the electrification of the Jabulani informal settlement, the refurbishment of Lazar Avenue and the support of youth programmes.
Projects yet to be completed include crime reduction, tree and grass cutting, developing Rieebeck Lake, cleaning sewer spillages, installing solar geysers, road maintenance, allocating street names, and repairing two bridges in Hectorton and Robinson respectively.
Despite these promises, residents expressed their dissatisfaction with a number of issues they face in their respective wards.
“We honestly feel that IDP meetings never work because no action is ever taken,” said Joseph Mokhunane, who lives in the Master informal settlement.
Bafana Magabe complained, saying his councillor does not hold any meetings with the community and that they now feel abandoned.
“Most of the time we are in the dark. We have a lot of service delivery issues that are not even known because there is no communication with our ward councillor,” Magabe added.
Frans le Grange complained that contacting the municipality is often difficult.
“A new switchboard has recently been installed, but the old phone number is still there so, as taxpayers, which number can we use to communicate with the municipality?” he asked.
