eTHEKWINI mayor Cyril Xaba attended a community meeting organised by the Merebank Ratepayers’ Association (MRA) to listen to the pressing concerns of the residents of the Merewent community at the Merebank Community Hall on October 23.

Also read: eThekwini mayor visits flood-stricken areas in Clairwood

Daya Naidoo, MRA chairperson, said the meeting was an avenue for residents to bring up their issues before municipal representatives and implement the Batho Pele principles of the city for improved service delivery and cooperation with the community.

Naidoo said that different pressing issues beset the area of Merewent and that these subjects needed timely and transparent responses on health and safety compliance, urgent infrastructure repairs and improved quality municipal services.

The residents expressed frustration about:

• Regular incidents of power tripping and delays in streetlight repairs affect security within the community and cause perishable items to get spoiled due to the losses of power.
• Concerns over infrastructure and cleanliness, noting that the effects of trucking through the area, illegal dumping and unkempt verges make for damaged infrastructure, along with the potential for pollution and respiratory health hazards.
• The upgrade of facilities, such as adding shelters at the Merebank clinic and additional public toilets, the upgrading of road signs and the cleaning of parks and beaches.
• The residents called on the municipality to account for the delays in installing prepaid meters and doing the same repairs at problematic points repeatedly without finding lasting solutions.

Xaba, supported by members from the various municipal departments, attended to these and told residents that within two weeks, the departments would need to come up with concrete action plans or have the projects up and running. The mayor further agreed to a follow-up with a drive around Merewent to check progress on those matters in two weeks.

Key points on the debt relief programme:

Xaba encouraged the community to also make use of the municipality’s debt relief programme during the meeting.

• The programme will operate between October and December.
• It allows residents who have outstanding municipal debts to negotiate a payment plan.
• Residents who agree on a payment plan will benefit from reductions in interest and deductions based on the timeliness of their payments.

Municipal officials said they have made notes of the concerns of the community and are actively developing strategies and projects.

Reflecting on the outcomes of the meeting:

Reflecting on the meeting, Xaba said that he was pleased to have come to the community of Merewent and engaged with them. He said the meeting was about residents making suggestions to the municipality on changes they can make in the community, and it was their responsibility as a municipality to not run from their input.

“Today, I received good suggestions, and my team was here. They actually promised that they were going to come back and look at some of the issues that were raised by the community and report them back to me with solutions, and I’m happy with the progress we are making,” he said.

Naidoo said that there were positive signs from the mayor. “We acknowledge his contribution and his decision to meet with us today. We also appreciate that he is giving the departments two weeks to make changes and agreeing to conduct a drive around Merewent which is an honourable decision. We hope that he will see changes that meet his expectations. We will wait after two weeks to give updates,” he said.

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