The responsibility of upholding the significant image of the community seems to be in the hands of residents associations (RA) more than those responsible for it.
Due to the lack of maintenance in a number of Roodepoort suburbs, RAs such as Panorama and Constantia Kloof North have taken it upon themselves, using their funds and resources to maintain the pride of their communities.
Recently the Panorama RA has undertaken several clean-up operations after having to fill potholes in several streets in Weltevreden Park.
On 14 November, the dedicated volunteers cleaned the piece of land belonging to the Department of Education on the corner of Lemoendoring Street and Jim Fouche Road, and did some skoffeling (shovelling) along JG Strydom Road – an activity that saw them receive praises from the local councillors.
A pleased Ward 97 councillor Leah Knott shared her mixed emotions about the activism. “I applaud active citizens but seriously, the City needs to do better. We haven’t been able to get skoffeling done on any roads in months. Councillors and citizens are doing the work we all pay the City for,” she said.
“The question remains – why aren’t the Joburg Roads Agency (JRA) depots getting sufficient budget and why aren’t tenders being awarded timeously?” she asked.
“Personally, I’m getting tired of covering for the current administration,” Leah vented.
Her colleague, Ward 89 councillor Amelia Bester also weighed in with criticism. “It is evident that taxpaying councillors and residents do not enjoy the respect of public servants. You’d almost say that we are here to serve them,” she said.
“This ‘don’t care culture’ has become prevalent over the past few months. Apart from the fish rotting from the head, the City has no consequence management systems in place. This translates to no accountability among the bloated administration,” she added.
Amelia went on to compare the two administrations saying, “Since we’ve taken office in 2016 we’ve seen the difference between living under a DA-led and under an ANC led administration”.
“It’s evident that residents realise that if they don’t step up to do things themselves, we’ll soon be living in a slum,” she reflected.
Despite her frustration, Amelia still admired the resilience that active RAs have shown. “I admire this resilience; we are not throwing in the towel. We have a lot to be thankful for and will do all in our power to retain and maintain our area,” she conclude.
