Msunduzi mayor hosts one-onone meetings with residents
Msunduzi Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla invited the public to the city hall to address their issues "one-on -one" on service delivery in their respective areas.
All Msunduzi department heads joined him to address the grievances of Pietermaritzburg's citizens.
The mayor addressed the residents directly and then referred them to the relevant departments inside the city — broken up into four stations such as sustainable development and city enterprises, budget and treasury, community services and infrastructure services.
The turnout on the day wasn't what they expected, but those who attended got the answers they needed.
The mayor addressed each person individually with the municipal manager, Lulamile Mapholoba, and chief whip Sandile Dlamini present.
Once the mayor had listened to the complaints, he then gave the resident advice and referred them to the relevant departments, which were also present on the day to attend to any problem.
Reverend Albert Chetty arrived just before 7 am on Saturday with his wife, Jaya Chetty, to try and resolve the issues he had with his church property and his own property regarding the payment of rates.
"My wife and I are pensioners so it's almost impossible to pay rates that are very expensive.
Water and lights alone is very pricey for us," said Chetty.
He said that he had been up and down many times before to try and resolve this problem with the municipality.
The mayor referred Chetty to the relevant departments to try and get the process going to get the church property issue sorted.
When Maritzburg Sun asked Mrs Chetty how they found out about this event, she said they were lucky that her husband received information about it via Whatsapp.
"I don't think that this event was publicised enough. You can tell that it wasn't, judging by how many were seated outside. Where are our councillors? They should've told the community about this," said Chetty.
The chairperson of the Eastwood Residents and Ratepayers Association (ERARA) and, Craig Freese, welcomed the initiative but said there was room for improvement in terms of time management, planning and public announcements to the residents.
"I received the feedback that I needed from the mayor and we as ERARA committee will be holding the mayor and municipal manager accountable for the commitment to resolve all Eastwood and ward 34 residents service delivery matters as soon as possible," said Freese.
When Maritzburg Sun spoke to deputy mayor Mxolisi Mkhize, he said the residents were excited that officials were able to assist them right away.
"There was a complaint of a leaking meter by one of the residents so I immediately deployed a team to fix it. That matter will be resolved," said Mkhize.
Mkhize, who is also the chairperson of the infrastructure services portfolio committee, said: "With certain cases we will have to go out and inspect the area. There was an infrastructure complaint by a resident so I have booked a time on Wednesday to take a team out to inspect and see how we can resolve that problem."
Thebolla said the reason he wanted to have the one-on-one session was because he felt the need to give the residents an opportunity to talk to the government.
"There are issues that the communities would want to raise with us individually. We believe this platform will help resolve some issues, and it will also correct the public perception of the municipality," said Thebolla.
The mayor said each person would be given five minutes to raise issues.
The Maritzburg Sun asked Thebolla what message he had for those who did not attend on the day.
"It's their loss because surely they have issues they would like to address. This initiative is the first of its kind and serves the people of Pietermaritzburg," he said.