Grass cutting in Ward 56 finally happens
There was a constant debate around whose mandate it was to cut the grass, between the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) and the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JPCZ).
The issue of grass being cut in Ward 56 has been a real problem, which resulted in councillor Michael Crichton to apply extreme pressure on officials to act upon.
There was a constant debate around whose mandate it was to cut the grass, between the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) and the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JPCZ).
Furthermore, there were perennial excuses of no budget for grass cutting. As a result, Crichton took the issue up with the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Community Development, councillor Margaret Arnolds, and the MMC for Transport, councillor Nonhlanhla Helen Makhuba.
“Initially there weren’t any positive results leading me to write an open letter to the press.
“Eventually, councillor Makhuba contacted me telephonically on February 28, and informed me that it is JPCZ’s mandate to cut the grass on the sidewalks as per a Mayoral Committee resolution in 2017.
“She further stated that funds had been allocated in the recently passed adjustment budget.
“The executive mayor councillor Geoffrey Makhubo also stated at a press conference on February 20 that he has instructed JCPZ to: ‘ ‘immediately act in cutting grass and maintaining spaces across the City’.
“After I applied a lot of pressure on this issue, councillor Arnolds sent me a WhatsApp message on March 4 stating: ‘The Ward 56 sidewalks will be cut from this weekend. We have already given the contractor a purchase order.’
“Unfortunately, this still did not happen and out of desperation a local Residents Association called the Oakdene Neighbourhood Watch (ONW) started to cut the grass themselves in their suburb.
“The following week, after I had sent many emails and WhatsApp messages including a second open letter to the press, the regional manager of JPCZ contacted me and said that while she does not have the budget to cut every single road in my ward, they will commit to cutting 20 hectares of grass.
“Since then JPCZ has started to cut grass in Rosettenville, Oakdene, Glenanda North, Gleneagles and Eastcliffe. I hope that some of the other suburbs in my ward will also get service delivery.
“While I had to go to these extremes to get the grass cut, I would like to thank JPCZ for their assistance. The DA will continue to keep this new administration accountable for service delivery,” explained Crichton.
