- Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and representatives of all City of Cape Town directorates visited Kuils River last Thursday, 9 November.
- Hill-Lewis said the open-government session provide residents an opportunity to interact with all City directorates at the same place and time.
- Representatives of corporate services, urban mobility, human settlements, spatial planning, and environment were also present.
Van Riebeeck Hall was packed to the brim last Thursday evening (9 November) when Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and representatives of all City of Cape Town directorates were in town.
Hill-Lewis said the open-government session provide residents an opportunity to interact with all City directorates at the same place and time – “not just with councillors but with senior officials.”
Among the Mayco members were Grant Twigg (urban waste management), James Vos (economic growth), Patricia van der Ross (community services and health), Beverley van Reenen (energy), Siseko Mbandezi (finance), Zahid Badroodien (water and sanitation), and JP Smith (safety and security) while representatives of corporate services, urban mobility, human settlements, spatial planning, and environment were also present.
Hill-Lewis gave a presentation with information related to Subcouncil 21 with input of some of the Mayco members before residents could approach the various tables to ask individual questions. He gave a commitment that “everyone’s question will be answered no matter how long it takes.”
Infrastructure
Referring to capital projects for the current 2023/’24 financial year within the Subcouncil, Hill-Lewis said the City of Cape Town (CCT) believes in infrastructure-led growth.
“You have to be building infrastructure to keep up with the very fast growth of our city, and to prepare our city for the future.
“Per person basis we are investing triple the amount that the City of Johannesburg is investing.”
Sewage blockages are the biggest issue raised through C3 service requests within Subcouncil 21, he said.
“We quadrupled the budget allocation for upgrading sewers in the city.”
Around R14 m is allocated for sewer and waterpipe replacements in Tuscany Glen and Kuils River (among others Heuwel, Daffodil and Aster streets in Sarepta).
Various parks will get some upgrades in the current financial year. Among these are Appelbloeisel, Palmeida, Protea, and Simonsberg park, as well as (from ward allocations); Samuel, Mikro, Fisant, Rusdal, and Maisel street parks.
Roads and houses
Hill-Lewis said he has experienced severe traffic in Kuils River.
“The third largest complaint, after electricity, was the issue with traffic and roads.” Road infrastructure investment include the dualling of Amandel Road, that “is going well and should be finished towards the end of the financial year (June 2024)”, upgrade of Saxdowns Road and Church Street intersection, and construction of Saxdowns Road between Stellenbosch Arterial and Stellendale.
“If we extend further than this financial year – the second and third year – you will see roadworks happening at Zevenwacht Link Road, Saxdowns Road between the R102 and Langverwacht, a third lane on Bottelary Road, and the extension of Erica Drive across the R300 between Belhar and Highbury.”
“We started a campaign; ‘Enough is enough’. We need everyone’s help to put a stop to extortion to service delivery sites.”
Vandalism
Hill-Lewis said the number of C3 service requests received from Subcouncil 21 is very low. ‘‘Either nothing is going wrong, which is unlikely, or people are not telling us that things are going wrong. Then it’s harder for us to know what we need attending to.”
He encouraged use of the City’s app. “Many people complain they get an SMS that the issue is closed and they’re standing there looking at the pothole. You can click on the dispute button, enter you reference number, and let the department know the issue is not closed.”
Many complain about streetlights.
Hill-Lewis said there is “a pandemic of cable theft in Cape Town” as copper is a valuable metal and unscrupulous bucket shops abound. ‘‘In a bad week we are spending R500 000 on replacing cables.”
Mayco member for energy, Beverley van Reenen appealed to residents to take ownership of electricity infrastructure. “Be our ears and our eyes”– the split boxes on poles, cables, kiosks on the sidewalk – it is there to provide a service to you.”
Hill-Lewis said the City’s Blue Downs depot spent “R636 000 this year on vehicle accidents – when a car smashes into one of our danger boxes.” He warned the City will bill reckless drivers who damage infrastructure. The depot spent R1,8 m on vandalism and around R10,5 m on normal maintenance. Oostenberg depot spent R1,5 m on vandalism and over R9 m on maintenance.
David Ockhuis, customer relations manager at Eskom, painted a bleak picture about theft and vandalism. ‘‘Our kiosks are burned to the ground for a small piece of copper, (and) minisubstations that supply hundreds of customers are being vandalised. We are busy replacing nine minisubs in Subcouncil 21 alone.”
Replacement costs are driven up by added security such as steel cages. “To replace one minisub costs at least R1.2 to R1.4 m. In subcouncil 21 in the last three years we probably had more than 50 metering kiosks burnt to the ground,” Ockhuis said.
Sewer abuse
Hill-Lewis said there is enormous abuse of the water and sanitation network, but the City accepts upgrades are necessary. Hence a quadrupled upgrade budget for pipe replacements and pump stations to keep up with the flow.
The City tracks sewerage spills on a ‘heat map’ to show where the biggest need for infrastructure investment is.
Mayco member Zahid Badroodien emphasised service requests are important to show where problems are. He said 52% of sewer blockages reported by C3 requests could have been prevented (28% caused by foreign objects and fats 24%).
Besides dumping into the sewer system (from rags to TVs and trees) that block pipes and potentially affect pump stations, City staff also experience challenges with safety (held at gunpoint, trucks hijacked) and vandalism (pipes punctured with screwdrivers), Badroodien said.
Gutters should not be connected to the sewer system as it leads to overflows.
The City is investing in generators, UPS systems and inverters to curb the impact of load shedding on pump stations.
Water and sanitation issues can be reported via WhatsApp on 060 018 1505.
Homeless
Hill-Lewis who made a site visit to the homeless at the canal before the meeting, said many residents wrote to the City about homelessness.
‘‘Our social development staff engage with each homeless person to try and help them off the street, to reintegrate them with family and to rebuild their lives.”
He said data shows most people living on the streets have an addiction or psychiatric condition.
‘‘It is very difficult to convince that person to move off the street on their own, because they are in a network – either a substance supply network or a familiar and comfortable environment to them.”
This means the court must be involved as legal third party on behalf of the state to say there has to be an intervention and help offered must be accepted.
Hill-Lewis said CCT offers more help than any other place locally – from safe spaces, getting work opportunities, social workers to programs for addiction.
“Residents must understand; without the court we may not move any person legally against their will. That is the law.”
He said disaster regulations made it legally impossible to apply for eviction orders, “but long before Covid and long after, you cannot move someone off the street without an eviction order issued by the high court.’’
Crime
Mayco member for safety and security, JP Smith explained how the City’s emergency police and incident command system (EPIC) works when you call 107 (landline), 021 480 7700 (cellphone) or your cell provider’s emergency number in Cape Town. The dispatcher can see where resources (vehicles/officers) are to connect them with an emergency.
Most complaints are emergency related, but crime is also a big component.
“A specific complaint we got in Ward 11 on Van Riebeeck Road is the group of vagrants law enforcement continuously attend to – in the last 100 days there were 82, either complaints or responses.’’
The City cannot apply for an eviction order unless accomodation is offered -“which means those persons short circuit the (housing) waiting list of 600 000 people patiently waiting for their turn,’’ he said.
Smith said they depend on residents lodging complaints as the police do not share usable crime statistics with the City.
Some calls are passed on to the police when City resources are not available, but the police is also severely understaffed.
“SAPS are supposed to have around 22 000 staff members but have around 12 000.” Where there should be a maximum of 250 members of public per officer, “the Western Cape is just short of one officer per 600.”
Smith said the City must increasingly fill the crime prevention function “whereas our job according to the constitution is traffic and bylaw enforcement.”
Besides gang, marine, liquor, and metal theft enforcement, extortion and kidnapping became part of the City’s problems, Smith said.
By hiring investigative forces, crime intelligence and information management services they are getting ahead of the problem. Smith said they couldn’t just leave it to national government to intervene that also took a year to allow the City to help with extortion. “They are starting to do a lot of investigations with us. You can help by reporting it.
“If someone ask for (protection) money it is not a fee or a fine, it is extortion and a criminal offense, call the toll-free number.”
Smith encouraged young people to join the City’s reservists. There is no salary, but with skills learned they can apply to metro police, the police, or law enforcement. You must have a driver’s license.
Email Gail.October@capetown.gov.za to be invited for an assessment.
Call the extortion hotline on 0800 00 6992.
