Northern Pretoria councillors demand action on municipal maintenance backlog

Parks, cemeteries and community infrastructure are among the public facilities residents believe deserve greater attention in northern Pretoria, as community organisations and ward councillors raise concerns about neglected infrastructure and ongoing maintenance problems ahead of the November 4 local government elections.

Montana resident Phillip Trollip said these facilities were often overlooked despite their importance to communities, arguing that their condition directly affected residents’ quality of life.

He believed public spaces should receive more attention from the municipality, alongside the infrastructure problems that typically dominate service-delivery complaints.

Concerns about neglected spaces extend beyond public facilities, with overgrown bushes, unkempt properties, illegal dumping and damaged municipal infrastructure also being highlighted by community representatives.

Zanell Janse van Vuuren of AfriForum Noord van die Berg said more clean-up operations were needed, warning that overgrown bushes and neglected properties could create places where people hide and engage in unlawful activities.

“These are unfortunately not reported, because the community don’t see it as an immediate problem. However, it poses a huge risk, especially where infrastructure like substations are concerned,” she said.

Janse van Vuuren said AfriForum Noord van die Berg wanted to help improve the community and encouraged residents to work together to promote safety.

“Although elections are important, we are not aligned to any political party,” she said. “We would like to see free and fair elections taking place.”

Safety and maintenance gaps across Ward 50

Ward 50 councillor Lenise Breytenbach said unresolved maintenance concerns included unlocked electrical boxes, poorly maintained fencing in the Wonderboom mountains, illegal dumping and general cleanliness across the ward.

She said residents continued to report problems, including illegal occupation and damage to municipal infrastructure, but complained that reports did not always result in action.

Breytenbach said the municipality’s limited budget restricted its ability to address outstanding problems, while she also raised concerns about staff skills and the use of overtime in certain departments.

She said current efforts included addressing illegal building, removing informal settlements and resolving outstanding issues, but added that adequate funding and experienced personnel were needed to improve maintenance.

Audit exposes systemic backlogs in Ward 98

In Ward 98, councillor Mickey van der Westhuizen said he conducted an infrastructure audit to identify problems across the ward instead of relying solely on complaints.

The audit identified blocked stormwater drains, damaged manholes, faded road markings, missing signs, damaged electricity poles, broken streetlights and potholes. It also highlighted areas where water and sewer repairs had not been properly reinstated.

“The audit showed me that a lot of these problems are not isolated. They have built up over time because maintenance has been too reactive,” he said.

Van der Westhuizen said hundreds of infrastructure problems and thousands of streetlight-related faults had been identified, although complaints received through different reporting channels made it difficult to provide one consolidated complaint figure.

He said budget pressures, procurement processes, theft, vandalism and ageing infrastructure contributed to delays, but stressed the need for greater accountability and preventative maintenance.

“I have done my part in identifying and documenting the problems. Now the metro must do its part and implement,” he said.

With special votes scheduled for November 2 and the local government elections on November 4, the concerns place renewed focus on everyday municipal maintenance and the condition of public facilities.

Residents and community representatives want neglected spaces and less-visible infrastructure problems to receive greater attention alongside the service-delivery issues that frequently dominate public debate.

Ward 2 highlights five major service challenges

Ward 2 councillor Quentin Meyer said the ward’s five biggest service-delivery challenges were recurring water leaks and burst pipes, electricity reliability, potholes and stormwater infrastructure, streetlight maintenance, and illegal dumping.

He said the underlying infrastructure backlogs remained a concern, particularly where ageing pipes, damaged roads and electricity infrastructure continued to cause recurring problems.

“The biggest unresolved problems are the underlying infrastructure backlogs, rather than individual complaints,” he said.

He identified ageing infrastructure, limited technical capacity and resources, vandalism, theft and the volume of service-delivery faults across Tshwane as obstacles to faster resolutions.

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