Johnathan Paoli
Ekurhuleni Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza launched his first Mayoral Imbizo at the Mahlareng Stadium in Tembisa on Thursday for a feedback session with community members on service delivery issues.
Xhakaza was joined by Members of his Mayoral Committee as well as the Premier of Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi.
The half-filled stadium was divided into a crowd of African National Congress (ANC) supporters on the one side and a slightly smaller crowd on the other side sporting EFF T-shirts.
In addressing the crowd, and following a partial walk-out from some EFF supporters, Premier Lesufi promised that Tembisa would not be left behind in the government’s project to restore programs which had critically assisted the communities, but subsequently dried up.
Lesufi said he fully supported a metro government that is focused on meeting the needs of communities, and that despite being a coalition government, it would not let party allegiance or ideology determine the path the city would take.
He confirmed that 10 000 people would start to be recruited next week, the first step in the city’s programme to combat the rising rates of unemployment.
The Premier also announced a planned intervention into Tembisa Hospital, in order to assist with the challenges faced by community members of the region in accessing health facilities including the introduction of a new fingerprint system.
The event, called Service Delivery Open Day, allows residents to have access to municipal services and assistance from officials on site at the stadium.
Xhakaza encouraged residents to fully utilise the department and service stalls brought to the stadium and called on them to speak up about their service delivery issues.
The Tembisa Imbizo is the first engagement with residents and includes service delivery site visits in the area, in line with the commitment made by the Mayor during his inaugural State of the City Address (SOCA) last month.
Xhakaza in his SOCA, highlighted the need for mayoral reflection projects and the unblocking of projects in order to respond to delays in terms of service delivery and said there was an urgent need to give feedback to the communities across the metropolitan area.
“We haven’t spoken to communities in the last two-and-half years. We have to restore the Mayor’s Imbizos and the service delivery war room. We are going to be moving in order to ensure that the issues are being dealt with”.
Ekurhuleni Metro executives had to answer burning questions from members of the community on problems which have hounded the city over the last few years.
The Ekurhuleni mayoral series of public meetings are part of the city’s stakeholder engagement strategy and designed to facilitate direct feedback from residents across all townships and suburbs in the City of Ekurhuleni.
The Imbizo comes on the heels of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) public hearing, which was held in Tembisa last month as part of a broader plan to revitalise the metro and encourage further investment and development.
These sessions are integral to ensuring that community voices are heard and acted upon throughout the governance process, with the Mayor tabling his plans to improve service delivery, restore political stability, and address various local issues such as infrastructure maintenance, billing concerns, and road improvements.
However, some skeptics have questioned both the sincerity of the programme as well as the sustainability of the promises made, with Ekurhuleni Finance MMC Nkululeko Dunga highlighting the lack of financial resources required to maintain the intended job creation and infrastructure revitalisation.
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