What seems to be unsurmountable service delivery dilemmas were thrown at the feet of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and his Mayoral Committee at a public town hall meeting in Kraaifontein on Thursday evening.
The meeting that mostly centred around the complexities of service delivery in the township areas of Wallacedene and Bloekombos, revealed the dichotomy that is Cape Town, where the City struggles to keep all the balls in the air.
In stark contrast to the mayor’s brave ambitions for a city of exceptionalism with a well-managed, well-spent budget, dejected residents reported not feeling the outcome of government spending.
Electricity, sewage, waste removal, housing and potholes topped the agenda.
Rob Bisset, chair of Kraaifontein Community Policing Forum (CPF), suggested that the City did not care for residents in Wallacedene and Bloekombos.
His concerns alluded to a recent electricity outage in Wallacedene where residents were left in the dark for 30 days and the local clinic out of operation without a working generator.
Also Mluleki Thomsana expressed a myriad of service delivery issues in the same areas. He spoke of the never-ending sewage spills that resulted in a sea of potholes on main roads.
Both Thomsana and Bisset protested the solid waste problem saying it “needed a lot of help”.
Yet another resident lamented the lack of street lighting in township streets, while another spoke of an incident where residents killed each other for electricity in an incident related to illegal connections.
City’s battle with eskom
Responding to questions and presenting the City’s challenges, Hill-Lewis reaffirmed the City’s battle with Eskom in areas not serviced by the City.
“We talk to Eskom on a daily basis about problems experienced in Wallacedene and we do whatever we can to escalate matters to them, but we can’t force them to do their jobs.”
He said the City is in initial discussion to take over Eskom-serviced areas in Cape Town, but that this could take some time.
Compounding the problem, Mayco member for energy Beverley van Reenen said Eskom is hesitant to send their teams into Wallacedene and Bloekombos due to the high incidence of theft and vandalising of electricity infrastructure.
“Transformers are stolen regularly, replaced by Eskom and then stolen again. As a City we can provide the lamp pole, but we need Eskom to power it up. There is not much we can do,” said Van Reenen.
In his turn Mayco member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien said vandalism and illegal dumping presented real obstacles.
“The Wallacedene pump station, which is a key component in the sanitation infrastructure in the area, was vandalised twice this year, once being burnt down. In addition illegal dumping causes continuous blockages and when our repair teams go into the areas they are robbed, hijacked and attacked. Illegal stormwater connections also exacerbate the problem.”
Hill-Lewis added that the budget on water and sanitation was quadrupled in the new financial year with plans to replace 100 km of sewer pipes per year.
In addition an extra R30 million was allocated to roads to ease the pressure.
A City official added to this saying that more than 2 000 potholes have already been fixed in the financial year and that another R20 million will be spent on resealing the roads.
Housing a concern
Housing remains a crisis in Kraaifontein, as one resident stated when he questioned the status of the housing list and the plight of those waiting for houses.
Two rows away from him sat another resident who pleaded for services to the Covid informal settlement on illegally invaded land that was earmarked by the City for the development of 3 500 housing units in Wallacedene. This man said poverty precluded him from being able to pay rent.
According to Malusi Booi, Mayco member for housing, R200 million were invested into a housing development before the massive land grabs during the pandemic.
He asked residents: “Where is the logic in this? What should the City do and why do you (the people) destruct what you desire?”
Whereas solid waste is concerned, Hill-Lewis noted that Wallacedene was one of the dirtiest areas in Cape Town, but was adamant when he said: “I remind you, not one of piece of paper has been put there by the City. Cleanliness impacts your sense of well-being, so talk to your neighbour when you see him emptying his wheelie-bin on the corner. Or report him to the City.”
By means of the City’s Spring Clean Campaign, the mayor said, 300 extra boots are on the ground to help clean up the city.
He invited the public to claim the cash rewards up to R5 000 for reporting illegal dumping.
“We need the community to take responsibility and pride in their areas. I don’t mind if we have to pay 20 000 rewards; we need to send a strong message.”
Hill-Lewis said he envisioned Cape Town as a place that gives hope to South Africans.
“We stand out head and shoulders above other South African cities, but we have a lot of work to do. We set our standards not by what is happening elsewhere in the country, but by doing our absolute best in being a capable government delivering the basics to our citizens. We want to be the one place to buck the trend and show forward progress, but we need our communities to work with us,” he said.
As a fast growing city, he said Cape Town did not keep up with infrastructure development as can currently be felt by residents as they have to endure problems such as sewage spills and traffic congestion.
“However, Cape Town has the financial muscle to push down on the accelerator of infrastructure spending and that is what we are doing now.”
