ELM’s service delivery summit goes on amid protests
In the end the summit was concluded, its success is however disputable, as it was attended by mostly government officials and the ELM employees with a handful residents seen.
VEREENIGING.- Despite the hiccups on the first day of its sitting, the Emfuleni Local Municipality’s (ELM) service delivery and revenue enhancement summit continued as planned on Wednesday and Thursday at the Vereeniging Civic Hall.
The aim of the summit, the ELM said, was aimed at bringing together key stakeholders to find ideas on how best the municipality can provide better and quality service delivery.
On the summits first day, frustrated Vereeniging (Duncanville) residents and dumped uncollected rubbish at the entrance of the Vereeniging Civic Centre yard, which also serves as the Head Office of the Sedibeng District Municipality (SDM). The residents said that refuse in parts of Vereeniging has not been collected for nearly three months.
ELM MMC Jonas Radebe addressed the angry crowd, and the rubbish (that was dumped at the entrance of the Vereeniging Civic Centre) was later removed.
The first day of the summit addressed the purpose of the summit, the role of Public Private Partnership (PPP) of service delivery and revenue generation, business perspective of service delivery and road maintenance and rehabilitation strategies. The summit featured speakers from the national government, provincial and private sector leaders, with a focus on driving investment and energising local development.
On the second day, Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Dr Namane Dickson Maseloma was in attendance, standing in for Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa. Masemola said that government was looking forward to resolutions of the summit, and that they should be implemented as per the peoples wish/es.
“We believe that robust discussions are the way and a necessary need to engage the community. This is an opportunity to measure development and service delivery. The leadership of this city (region) has got no time to waste. We have only a few months left (till the next local government election) for implementation,” he said.
In the end the summit was concluded, its success is however disputable, as it was attended by mostly government officials and the ELM employees with a handful ‘residents’ seen.
The implementation of its resolutions remains to be seen.
