Ward 91 residents were invited to a public meeting at St David’s Marist Inanda to receive feedback from representatives of various City of Joburg utilities as well as raise any problems they have experienced.
Ward 91 councillor Jeffrey Pietersen hosted the meeting and ward councillors Martin Williams and Vincent Earp also attended the meeting along with the MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services Nico de Jager.
Jacoline Madiba of Joburg Water highlighted that they were working to ensure that all problems reported were dealt with timeously. She said sewer blockages and major burst pipes would all be addressed within 24 hours of being reported and smaller meter leakages would be addressed within 96 hours.
Madiba added that Joburg Water would be embarking on an emergency pipeline project. “With regard to the famous December water outage that many residents experienced, I am proud to stand here and say that Joburg Water has urgently convened an emergency pipeline replacement project in Linro Park.”
They will begin the public participation process this month. Madiba said they wanted to ensure that there would be no water wastage and upgrade the infrastructure when necessary.
Archie Masondo, a depot manager for City Power, said their primary focus at the moment was the restoration time of power outages. Masondo added that they also did an analysis of outages to determine whether or not there were third-party causes of the outages such as construction or cable theft as this allowed them to address outages quickly. “We know that communication has been a problem in the past so we are working to improve that,” he said.
Masondo added that one of the biggest problems which caused power outages was cable theft which had increased significantly over the years.
De Jager said cable theft had put a lot of pressure on City Power. “In 2003, five per cent of all power outages were due to vandalism and theft, today it is 47 per cent,” he said.
De Jager added that City Power had been allocated R10 million to improve security at substations in a bid to reduce the occurrence of cable theft.
Khaya Mabanda, regional manager for the Johannesburg Roads Agency said there were two parts to the agency, one was capital expenditure and the other was maintenance. Mabanda added that cutbacks and staff shortages had contributed to problems at the roads agency. The Zandfontein Depot, which services Sandton, originally had 250 staff members but today there were only 62 employees which had caused some setbacks.
However, Mabanda added that these challenges were being addressed. A lack of clarity over which utility was responsible for maintaining sidewalks had also caused some confusion but he added that this would be clarified with Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo.
He added that they were working with other utilities to ensure that the reinstatement of roads would be handled more efficiently.
Sergeant Mathabe Mashilwane, the Metro police ward commander, said it was their responsibility to enforce bylaws, manage traffic and engage in crime prevention. He said there had been a problem with speeding along Dennis Road in Atholl and he had consulted with his colleagues to ensure there was the enforcement of speed limits in the area.
De Jager added that it was also the responsibility of residents to adhere to the bylaws. Littering and illegal dumping were a big problem in the area. “We are responsible for littering and illegal dumping and we need to take responsibility for our own environment and clean-up,” he said.
“It won’t make anyone poorer but it will encourage us to play our part in the city.”
Mapule Dease said it was their responsibility to ensure that all incorrect billing was addressed. “Our duty is to ensure that if you have queries that have been logged, we deal with those problems and address your queries,” she said.
Dease added that residents registered for the Extended Social Package would be able to apply for rebates on their rates and taxes. Some residents at the meeting raised concerns about their billing, however, Dease assured residents that they would be working consistently to ensure that all their concerns were addressed.
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