Ward 22 councillor Mmeli Moyo accompanied by representatives of residents’ associations, Tuesday, toured his ward to assess service delivery challenges.
The councillor visited sewer hot spots, dumping sites, and the Nkulumane Sekusile shopping centre, where informal traders are operating near a dumpsite.
He also visited residential houses that are affected by flooding due to the absence of drainage systems.
Some residents in Nketa 6 have taken it upon themselves to dig out trenches for the sewer to move smoothly without overflowing onto the road.
“The challenge that we have is the sewer. I ended up digging trenches for the sewer to move smoothly. We are no longer safe. We have tried to report the matter even to the previous councillor who came with the engineers, but they disappeared and never returned. We hope the new councillor will help us and solve this problem for us,” said Chipepo, a resident.
Councillor Moyo said he is concerned that some burst sewer is now flowing into residential houses.
He said the bridge connecting Nketa 6 and Nkulumane has been damaged and turned into a dumpsite, making it difficult for residents to pass.
“Children going to school are no longer able to use that bridge. It’s becoming a very serious challenge in our ward,” said Cllr Moyo.
Moyo said what is very worrisome is the behaviour of residents, who are dumping litter in undesignated areas.
“As we saw, they are now dumping litter in undesignated areas, which now affects council systems, be it sewerage or water. Those are the things that we need to address,” he said.
The ward councillor also looked into the state of the roads, which he said he hopes to address. He said he would also work on addressing the issue of water, which is a common problem to the residents in the ward.
Meanwhile, the councillor said they are going to revise all the leases and contracts for businesses operating in the ward.
“There are many complexes in the ward which need a thorough revision in terms of the leases and contracts that they were given by council because we want every business to develop the ward and the livelihood of people,” said Cllr Moyo.
The resident’s association chairperson Mr Nhliziyo said they hope that the newly elected councillor will help improve service delivery by working with various council departments as residents want improved service delivery.
