Broken glass, steel wire, strewn paper and plastic are being cleared from blocked stormwater drains across the City, as the municipality tackles flooding and illegal dumping, which endanger the integrity of the road infrastructure.
The Executive Mayor, Cllr Geoff Makhubo urges residents to stop littering, as this was wrecking stormwater drainage systems.
“We’d like to encourage residents not to litter as most of these drainage systems are blocked by litter,” says Cllr Makhubo.
The Mayor notes that protecting the City’s roads and stormwater infrastructure is everyone’s responsibility.
“Due to the large volume of rain we’ve had in the City, we’ve received complaints of blocked stormwater drains. We’ve sent our Environment and Infrastructure Service department to clear the drains to reduce flood risk on the road,” he explains.
As part of the #KleenaJoburg campaign, the MMC of Environment and Infrastructure Services, Cllr Mpho Moerane is leading a citywide drive to clean kerb inlets, patch potholes and level verges.
The City is also fixing streetlights and cleaning open spaces under this wide-ranging campaign, which is a comprehensive approach to intensifying service delivery.
As part of the initiative, various City-owned entities render basic services such as patching potholes, eradicating illegal dumping, and disconnecting illegal electrical connections, fixing faulty streetlights, auditing meters, unblocking sewer and blocked stormwater drains, stopping water leakages, felling trees as well as enforcing bylaws.
The initiative encourages residents to take care of their environment and take pride in public infrastructure by protecting it from damage or litter.
Several blocked stormwater drains have already been unclogged in suburbs such as Rabie Ridge and Ivory Park in Midrand, Meadowlands in Soweto, Alexandra as well as Hillbrow in the Inner City. The work will spread to other areas.
“We’d like to assure our residents that the City is working around the clock to repair blockages on our stormwater drains,” Cllr Makhubo emphasises.