Communities demand more prior to elections

DURBAN community organisations want eThekwini municipality leadership to do more, as they promised in the previous local government elections.

And as the next round of elections draws closer, the community activists are urging residents to think carefully before casting their votes.

Antoinette Dawson, chairwoman of the Newlands East Watch Community Safety organisation, said they aimed to create a safe living environment for young and old in their community.

“We have street patrols and we monitor what is going on, where drugs are being sold, or any similar problem. We do this because we want our children to grow up in a safe environment and for our youth to have good opportunities as we aim to have a skills development centre in Newlands. But how can we carry out our patrols when the street lights are broken for days, when verges are not cut. These things make it difficult for us to do our work, which we are passionate about as we want to see changes in our community,” said Dawson.

While she said they had a good working relationship with their local councillor, she said red tape often meant delays in carrying out work, such as fixing of street lights.

“There are also many illegal businesses in the area, such as shebeens, where drug dealing also takes place. We want the municipality to shut these down, as they create a nuisance in our community. We need the municipality to act when we alert them to these cases,” she said.

Sydenham Community Police Forum spokesman Satish Dhupelia said ward councillors needed to be held to account.

“I live in the Sherwood area, and I haven’t seen the councillor since the elections. We don’t have a ward committee set up either. When residents face issues that are municipal related, they approach us to assist as they can’t get hold of the councillor. We do help because we love our area, but this should not be how it’s done as there is a councillor who gets paid to do the job. When there is a pothole, we call the city, when there is a water leak we call the city as well. But where is the councillor who is supposed to be monitoring the area and reporting directly to the municipality?” asked Dhupelia.

He said now that the elections were closer, he was getting calls from parties asking if they could count on his support, and he said the political party could not tell him who the ward candidate was.

Meanwhile on the south, the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, spokeswoman Priya Pillay said they wished for a better relationship with the city.

“We want to see that the lives of people in our community improved, and the quality enhanced. We want to see the employment opportunities focused in this area, and the community should be able to flourish,” she said.