Hundreds of residents from Westbury, Riverlea and surrounding areas braved the scorching heat to listen and engage the newly appointed City of Johannesburg political leadership at the Harvestime Dome in Westbury on Tuesday, 11 October 2022. The City’s leadership, which comprise 10 newly appointed Members of Mayoral Committee (MMCs) was led by Executive Mayor Cllr Sello Dada Morero and Speaker of Council Cllr Colleen Makhubele.
The purpose of the engagement was to hear first-hand the concerns and complaints from the residents and to find solutions to the issues raised.
Member of Gauteng Provincial Legislature Bishop Dulton Adams thanked Mayor Morero and his executives for taking the time to come and listen to the concerns of the residents.
“The community of Westbury and the surrounding areas is tired of meetings like this. These communities have been meeting like this with various administrations over the years. The shootings in these areas are getting worse and brutal. One of the community members was shot 17 times, 9 of those shots were in his face,” said Bishop Dulton.
He asked for the strong force to be permanently stationed in Westbury and the surrounding communities. He also appealed to the community members to help the government by identifying the drug lords and those with guns in the area. One of the concerned residents said: “We have been marginalized for a long time, I lost a son, what is new that you are bringing to us?”
Another resident asked the City to close down illegal scrapyards that are fueling drug abuse amongst young people. The community has organised itself through night patrols and asked the City to help where possible with uniforms and flashlights.
“Corrupt City of Johannesburg Human Settlements Department officials are working with illegal immigrants where houses belonging to rightful owners are sold to them,” said one of the residents.
The residents also handed over the list of grievances to the City’s leadership. Some of the issues the residents are battling with include killings, shootings, Uber robberies, illegal dumping, drugs lords, illegal power connections, hi-jacked buildings, potholes, and cable theft, amongst a lengthy list of grievances.
Mayor Morero accepted the list of grievances and said that they will structure resolutions process into short term, medium term and long term. Some of the issues that have been experienced for years will require long-term solutions.
“There are issues that we will deal with immediately, this include the deployment of JMPD to the areas,” said Mayor Morero.
“We need to work together to fight the scourge of drugs in these areas, but you must be ready because some drugs lords stay and live amongst the community members. We also expect a push back from the drug lords, we are ready to take them on together with your cooperation and support.”
On illegal scrapyards, Mayor Morero said: “It has been established that they do contribute to the theft and vandalism of the City infrastructure. Law enforcement will be intensified and the illegal scrapyards will be closed down.”
“The City Power has started exempting some hospitals from load-shedding. These include Parkhurst municipal clinic, Johannesburg eye hospital, Coronation hospital, and Helen Joseph hospital,” he said.
The City will bring all the entities to deal with service delivery backlog highlighted in the area.
Written by Thami Dhladhla
12/10/2022