Services to be delivered in two weeks

The recent heavy rains and limited staff members due to the ongoing pandemic, attributed to the delay in certain areas of services delivery in suburbs across Pretoria, the Tshwane metro has said.

Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo on Friday said the metro was adamant that the maintenance backlog would be addressed by mid-February.

“By then the appointment of service providers and grass cutting contractors will be in place.

“Once such an appointment is made, the metro will prioritise maintenance in cemeteries, parks, road reserves as well as most utilised facilities within communities. This effort will also cater for open spaces and sidewalks,” Mashigo said.

Residents of Clydesdale raised concerns early in January about their suburb not being safe because of the delay in service delivery.

Member of Clydesdale’s residents association, Andriesa Ferreira, said on Friday that the park in the area of Loftus had been cleaned up, however, the municipality had not yet been able to attend to the park and sidewalks in Clydesdale.

“The overgrown areas and long grass create an environment of danger to residents,” Ferreira said.

“The community made an effort during the lockdown period to clean up, but few people attended.”

She said in her street alone, there were four or five student communes and two guesthouses.

READ MORE: Groenkloof residents take initiative to clean up their area

“Here are no students to ask, and surely one cannot ask guests to assist with picking up rubbish or cutting grass.”

She said residents did not mind helping out in a crisis, “but surely that cannot be the norm since residents pay for a service which is simply not being rendered”.

“If it costs residents time and money and equipment to render a service which they have already paid for, surely the municipality should give residents discount on services charged for.”

Local DA candidate, Leanne de Jager, said services had initially not been rendered because the tender was not finalised due to the municipality being put under administration, however, the tender became finalised early January.

There is currently no councillor in the ward since previous DA councillor, Abel Tau, resigned and residents await a date from the Independent Electoral Commission for the by-election.

“The plan has indeed been rolled-out, the metro will proceed to render services in Clydesdale soon, as well as in a couple of other areas which had also been affected,” De Jager said.

The municipality has neither been able to attend to cutting grass in Groenkloof yet. Residents of Groenkloof started a clean-up project on Saturday, which would probably last another weekend.

The community focused on clearing sidewalks and cutting long grass that was obscuring the view of oncoming traffic at vital intersections in Florence Ribeiro Drive to Wenning Street, and from George Storrar Drive all the way down to the Fountains area.

The Groenkloof Residents’ Association (GRA) and Groenkloof Safety Initiative (GSI) initiated the project, and Groenkloof Nature Reserve is also actively involved in the conservation of the neighbourhood and its parks.

Chairman of Groenkloof’s resident association, Mia Geringer, said residents had been generous with both their time and donations to various of its community and environmental projects.

“By co-ordinating efforts with teams from the Tshwane metro, we make a lasting, positive impact.”

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