We’re fed up with city’s poor service

GENERALLY, South Africans are extremely patient with the government. Occasionally we will resort to civic action to catch the attention of public representatives.

But patience wears thin and it certainly has its limits.

The community of Charlesville (a small suburb under the jurisdiction of the City of Cape Town) has been patient for almost four decades with the quality and frequency of services, supposed to be provided to them as ratepayers.

Over the years, despite changes in who holds political control in the city, nothing has changed – it is still a community bereft of even the most basic services such as the cleaning and maintenance of parks, let alone other recreational facilities – non-existent in Charlesville and the surrounding communities of Montana and Montevideo.

The most recent example of the failure of the city to carry out its constitutional mandate in these suburbs is months of frustration in getting the city to clean four play parks. Numerous e-mails from various residents to the office of the mayor, the offices of at least two mayoral committee members, the newly-elected councillor, the city manager, Wastewise and even the City Ombudsman have either gone unanswered or were met by a standard pre-recorded message.

Writing to Weekend Argus is a last resort as no one in the city is listening to us or taking action.

Our patience has dried up. One of the parks in question has not been attended to in months. This was brought to the attention of the new councillor shortly after he was elected to office. He saw the condition of the park, but we still sit with the mess.

Is it too much to ask that the kids of Charlesville be provided with the same quality of parks that children using Drostdy Park enjoy? Is it too much to ask that the elderly of Charlesville be provided with the same quality of parks that the elderly living close to La Provence Park use for walking and recreation?

Surely, these communities should not be treated differently? We also pay rates as do residents living near Drostdy and La Provence parks. Why the difference in service delivery?Are we being unreasonable?

PICTURE: BRENTON GEACH Charlesville residents protest in Wale Street earlier this year.