City takes services to the people
MAYOR Patricia de Lille’s meeting with the community of Khayelitsha started shakily when a troubled resident raised his hand to address it and was promptly removed.
De Lille said he always disturbed the city’s meetings in the area, and they would not allow it.
The city hosted an Organisational Development and Transformation Plan (ODTP) roadshow, aimed at bringing its services to the people.
Resident Noxolo Mangaliso said she was happy the services were brought to them.
“We knew about some of the services the city provides, but for most of us it is difficult to go to town to access them because of transport money. We are happy they have been brought on our doorstep,” she said.
Another resident, Bathandwa Njeza, said even though she was happy with the roadshow, she did not know how it would help her. Njeza, who lives in a backyard, said she had been waiting for a house for a long time and had come to check how far she was on the waiting list.
De Lille said it was wonderful to see the plan in action after less than a year, and already transversal (cross-functional) management was coming to life.
“The ODTP values will work together as a guide for our intent, actions and behaviour to help shape our working culture and encourage excellent service delivery.”
She said the ODTP was about taking service delivery to the next level, and one of its priorities was to achieve excellence in basic delivery. This was achieved when residents believed their needs were being met and there was an improvement in living conditions.
“We want to enhance our accountability to you… This is why we are bringing services to you. We do not want to wait for you to come to us with problems. We want to come to you pro-actively to prevent major issues to begin with,” said De Lille.
The mayor said servicespresented to residents included grant applications, housing database queries, billing enquiries, health checks, and library sign-up services.
She said they had a proposed budget of R709.5 million to spend in the area during the 2017/18 financial year and a further amount of R2.7 billion for the next three years.