Mayor visits Centurion to check on service delivery

Tshwane metro mayor Randall Williams visited Centurion with various ward councillors to address service issues in the area.

Williams did oversight of the work that has been done in region 4.

“Since we will enter the rainy season soon, it is very important that we start with our preventative measures. We can deal with the downpours that usually take place in this area,” said Williams.

“We have to clean out the stormwater drains and make sure the pavements are clean so the water can run freely.”

Williams said the metro also checked on the maintenance of streetlights in the area.

“We have a major problem here with cables that get stolen from the poles, which prevents it from functioning. We will have to come up with a new plan to tackle cable theft. Replacing cables is not the answer, because it gets stolen again the moment it is replaced.

“Another particular, major problem we have in Centurion, is the issue of sinkholes. We’ve run the repair of the sinkholes in terms of certain factors, looking at the importance of the route on which the sinkhole appeared. Also how it affects the surrounding areas such as businesses.”

Williams said of course the metro could only spend the money that it has.

“We thus ranked the sinkholes in terms of our revenue that we have so that we can repair these sinkholes properly.

“It is not easy to repair a sinkhole. There is a lot that goes into it, and repairing a sinkhole can cost R25-million. But that is something that we will have to do.”

“The metro will continue with the plan that we started five years ago as far as the sinkholes are concerned. We will tackle the sinkholes and continue with preventative maintenance on our water structure as well. That is to prevent future sinkholes from occurring.”

DA alderman Peter Sutton said that work on the Centurion lake will also commence on Wednesday.

“We will proceed to open up the river on the one side and drench the water flow to get the river flowing again. Then we will get the water flowing on the other side as well.

“Thus the water will move much faster during floods.”

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Ina Strijdom, DA ward councillor said the metro prioritised water leaks and streetlights in her ward. “I requested that the sinkhole in Alaric Road, Valhalla, rather be prioritised.

“That sinkhole expands when it rains. My concern is that it might be a R5-million sinkhole at the moment, but two rainy seasons later, it could become a R25-million sinkhole to repair.”

DA councillor Elmarie Linde said she was delighted that service delivery was in place with signed contracts with contractors.

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