WARD COMMITTEE MEETING-6 MAY 2008

By Fathima Jani

Ward 58 held their latest ward committee meeting on 06 May 2008, at Kholvad House in the Inner City. Councillor Juned Pahad took a leave of absence in March/April, and due to unfortunate circumstances, the ward was not able to have an April meeting.

He encouraged his members to be positive about the resolutions of outstanding queries, and hoped that the new Urban Management Group would be able to assist in solving those queries, so that his members can work on new problems.

The Urban Management Group is a government initiative aimed at facilitating speedy results to old queries, and assist in day-to-day problems faced on the streets of Johannesburg.

Ward member Ahmed Suleiman aired his concerns regarding unresolved issues. He says that the government had introduced other bodies of government to assist the ward, yet problems were never resolved. He was concerned about whether or not the Urban Management Group would be able to help resolve issues, when other groups did not.

“Service delivery is a major issue in our ward. Every department who has come to help us had wanted all the information from us, and we go through the whole process again and again. Supplying of information, filing reports, phone calls, emails, etc. are so common with our unresolved issues. I hope that the Group would be the ones who will eventually help us.”

“When the Fordsburg Clinic’s roof was not fixed properly by the relevant department, and continued to leak, it was Bheki, Khotso and you, Mr. Chairman who worked non-stop to resolve this issue. Radio 702 will highlight service delivery done in other areas, and shows work well done by MMCs’. But they do not highlight the lack of service delivery by the MMCs’ in our ward.”

He says further that the MMC for Roads has till date never given a feedback to the ward regarding the Paruk report, which was supposed to contain information on which roads needed upgrade in Ward 58.

The lack of communication from government offices makes the ward members feel useless and ineffectual, and they get fed-up of the ongoing circle with no end in sight.

Juned responds by saying that the ward should give the Urban Group a chance to show positive results, and hopefully help members resolve the old queries.

He says “We need to escalate our queries to Councillor Ashraf ‘Boeta’ Rajah, the Chairperson of the Inner City. We will have Section 79 meetings, where Ashraf will ensure the attendance of the MMC responsible for that query, and find speedy resolutions. We will no more go through the processes for outstanding queries, and Ashraf will be able to assist us with this.”

He says that the ward will become more forceful and apply pressure on Ashraf to make sure that money is spent where it is supposed to be. He is confident that the councillor will come on board to prioritize service delivery.

Juned went through the unresolved issues such as Hardy House evictions, the non-service delivery of Metro Trading Centre with regards to the Fordsburg Square, etc., but will discuss the issues further when communication with Ashraf Rajah has begun, regarding these problems.

Finally, he says “We need to create workshops for our people, so that they can understand the problems the ward is facing, and can benefit and implement what they learn through the workshops.

The meeting ended in a more positive note as the Urban Management Group gave their assurance that they will be dedicated to the ward’s causes, and together will form a strong partnership.

Juned urges members of the community to become part of the ward or to assist the ward in helping resolve 2008 queries or even their own concerns, which would be a huge benefit to their communities.

He can be contacted on (011) 613-8711.