Task team tackles chaos
Metro response to deal with service delivery failures before protests
ANEW Buffalo City Metro rapid response task team (RRTT) aimed at fighting violent and disruptive service delivery protests was launched yesterday following a failed attempt to set up the team last year.
The launch of the RRTT was held at the East London City Hall yesterday in a glitzy event which, to the disappointment of the metro bosses, was poorly attended by invited guests.
The team, comprising 12 members, will be chaired by Sithembiso Khanyile, who is also a manager in executive mayor Xola Pakati’s office.
Khanyile will work closely with general managers in the metro’s various departments, including human settlements, roads, water leaks, electricity and solid waste.
Contact numbers of the 12 RRTT members can be accessed at BCM offices.
Council speaker Mtsi said the team members would serve for five years.
“The RRTT is a three-way work stream which includes petitions management and communication, clean-up campaigns and informal settlements.
“It is designed to also look at situations before they escalate into community protests,” said Pakati.
He added that residents needed to be educated that it was not acceptable for angry residents to “randomly wake up and decide to burn tyres and streets inconveniencing thousands of other people while doing so”.
“People can’t do as they please. No matter how angry people are it can’t be acceptable that people just wake up and decide to burn things.
“You can’t burn a library because you are protesting to get a school built for your community. It is taxpayers who have to pay for the destroyed infrastructure to be rebuilt,” said Pakati.
Although it has never been officially launched, the RRTT was established last year but failed to combat protests after top officials failed to commit to the structure.
Pakati said the officials did not take the job seriously.
“Now we have decided to reconfigure the team which now has new permanent members who will be fully committed to resolving service delivery-related petitions,” Pakati said, adding the team members would not be paid more for doing the job.
East London police station commander Brigadier Mxolisi Mqotyana, who attended the launch yesterday, said the initiative would benefit the police service in the city.
“During these protests police spend most of their time on the field and during that time criminals also take advantage and commit crime. So we are very happy about this initiative and we want it to work,” said Mqotyana.
DA and EFF councillors said they could not comment yesterday because they did not attend the event for various reasons. — mamelag@