A week-long Re A Spana campaign has addressed a range of long-standing service delivery issues in parts of Centurion.

While residents have welcomed the improvements, many believe the initiative has highlighted the importance of consistent, preventative maintenance throughout the year rather than periodic intervention campaigns to address accumulated backlogs.

The campaign is currently being rolled out across different parts of Centurion until August 14, with Ward 69 among the areas that benefited during the week of August 3–7.

Ward 69 councillor Cindy Billson said several city departments collaborated to tackle a wide range of service delivery issues.

“The programme included grass cutting, pothole repairs, streetlight maintenance, road markings, cleaning of public spaces, stormwater maintenance and general infrastructure repairs,” she said.

Billson added that the city’s revenue department was also available on the first day of the campaign to assist residents with municipal account-related enquiries.

The work focused primarily on Wierdapark Ext 2, Eldoraigne Ext 18 and Rooihuiskraal North.

According to Billson, the initiative helped reduce a backlog of routine maintenance that had accumulated over time, with visible improvements made along key routes such as Old Johannesburg Road and Hendrik Verwoerd Drive.

She welcomed the work and thanked the municipal officials involved, saying residents had benefited from the improvements across the ward.

However, Billson believes many of the issues addressed should never have reached the point where a large-scale intervention programme became necessary.

“Many of these interventions represent catch-up maintenance. If routine maintenance had been carried out consistently, a programme of this nature would not have been necessary,” she said.

“Sustainable service delivery depends on preventative and ongoing maintenance rather than periodic cleanup campaigns.”

Residents in the area have also shared similar sentiments.

Eldoraigne resident Natasha Botha said she was pleased to see the city responding to service delivery concerns that residents had been raising for some time.

“It means a lot to us as residents because this is what we have always wanted. We would rather not have to complain first before things get done,” she said.

“These initiatives should happen more often, not only for a week or two. Once the programme is over, we often find ourselves facing the same problems again. We would like to see this level of maintenance become the norm instead of an occasional intervention.”

Billson stated that residents had generally welcomed the work and appreciated seeing long-standing issues finally being addressed.

Despite the recent progress, Billson noted that several issues still require the city’s attention.

These include ongoing streetlight repairs, keeping road reserves along Old Johannesburg Road and Hendrik Verwoerd Drive clean, pruning trees that obscure streetlights, repainting faded road markings, replacing missing street name signs, controlling weeds on pavements and traffic islands, and repairing the deteriorating condition of Rooihuiskraal Road and Theuns van Niekerk Street.

She added that Ward 69 continues to face broader infrastructure challenges, including ageing electricity infrastructure, recurring power outages, water infrastructure failures, vandalism and cable theft, all of which require sustained investment and ongoing maintenance.

Referring to the recent power outage at the Brakfontein Substation, Billson said it served as a reminder that while intervention programmes improve the appearance of an area, they cannot replace the continuous maintenance of critical infrastructure needed to prevent service failures.

Looking ahead, Billson said initiatives such as Re A Spana remain valuable but should complement, rather than replace, routine municipal maintenance.

“The objective should be a municipality that maintains infrastructure consistently throughout the year. If preventative maintenance is done properly and service delivery remains consistent, the need for large-scale catch-up interventions would be significantly reduced,” she added.

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok or WhatsApp Channel