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 You asked for it, Mr Mayor!
    Staff Reporter
    May 17 2005 at 11:43AM 		Get IOL on your
mobile at m.iol.co.za

The mayor wanted tips on how to spend Joburg's R17-billion budget and you've been eager to give them to him.

Here are some of the suggestions you have sent The Star for City of Johannesburg executive mayor Amos Masondo to consider for his 2005/06 budget speech on May 26:

  • Wendy Carstens writes:
    1) Substantially increase the salaries of police officers. This
    will improve status and morale, and should deter bribery and corruption.

    2) Employ proven operations managers and mentors and/or send city managers on operations management courses in all council departments and Section 21 companies. This will improve efficient utilisation of resources and provide forward planning. For example, a timeous herbicide spraying programme on council pavements will mean that money will not be wasted on scores of workers endlessly chipping away at pavement grasses.
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    3) Expedite the passing of building plans and take action against unlawful building. Also ensure that toilets are provided for construction workers and check up on the the removal of all rubble.

    4) Remove alien invasive vegetation from council property and frequently check for new growth. Educate residents about removing alien plants on their properties.

    5) Be seen to take firm action against dumpers, litterers and poster polluters.

    6) A well-run city does not need "marketing" parties. Expensive functions for the elite few are a visible waste of taxpayers' money.

  • Sifiso E Kweyama says:

    I am artistic director of Okhela Dance Theatre and I am trying hard to get the children off the streets of Rosettenville. I think it is important for them to realise their potential if they want to become professional artists. I am there to assist them but I need a venue and financial support. There are empty venues in Region 9 but I cannot utilise them because the municipality is hiring them out.

  • Zubaydah Kirsten recommends:

    1) Install water and electricity meters so we can monitor how much we spend per household. This will stop problems like major outstanding sums because meters have not been read by council officials for years.

    2) When tree branches need to be cut, the council sends the workers to cut only that particular tree. Why can't they use their initiative to cut others which also pose a danger to overhead lines or cables?

    3) Give children something to do during the school holidays. We all know the saying "the devil finds work for idle hands", so please arrange activities at reasonable costs at recreation centres because activities like private art classes cost at least R60 per day. We need our school-going children to be kept busy over these periods.

    4) Inject more money into projects dealing with Aids, TB, etc. For example, in provincial hospitals, investigate ventilation problems that cause patients who are just going to collect monthly medication to get sick.

    5) With the high cost of fuel, please provide more buses for children who travel long distances.

  • Esrom Sphiwe Makhoba says:

    1) Taxis and Putco buses are too expensive, so we would like to have more metro buses.

    2) Can we have a proper recreation facility in Orlando West?

    3) Elias Motsoaledi, who contributed to our liberation struggle, has been forgotten. Couldn't you turn his house into a tourist destination?

  • Nathan Waywell says:

    With the traffic congestion as it is and the public transport system without a sufficient train network, I'd like to open a debate on the efficiency of traffic circles. I'm not talking about the ones that have popped up in the northern suburbs, but real roundabouts that control large intersections and allow traffic to slow and proceed and not stop - which is the cause of all our traffic jams. A traffic circle is environmentally more friendly, cheaper to maintain and operate, plus it will relieve us all of early-morning and evening stress. Imagine World Cup 2010 with our current road problems...


  • Herbert Mothiba suggests:

    Build a bridge between Protea Glen and Naledi Extension 2 or convert the available road so it can be used by motor vehicles as well as pedestrians. This is a dangerous route used daily by workers and school children walking to and from the train station. The danger of the road has already been noticed as a wall to stop cars falling into the river has been erected. Now what about the lives of pedestrians?

  • Mzwandile Khoba has several ideas:

    1) There is too much corruption in awarding tenders. People are given tenders for which they do not qualify and deliver poor quality workmanship. The council and government must implement measures to prevent this. It is crucial and democratic that independent representatives of the public be included in the structures that make the decisions.

    2) We have seen a large number of councils failing to run effectively and deliver services. So, the council should establish spending criteria (which I suspect they already have). Priority should be given to the previously disadvantaged. Townships in particular should be allocated a bigger share of the budget in order to upgrade the infrastructure such as street lights, roads, sanitation and sewerage systems, and drainage systems. Roads built these days do not have stormwater drains and that is why we have such serious and dangerous flooding.

    3) Develop office parks and industrial complexes in townships to ensure that they contribute to the GDP. Then people will not have to wake up early and catch buses to Midrand and Sandton. This willensure there is economic life in the townships which is missing at the moment.

    4) Money should go into researching further town development and planning to avoid overpopulation in Soweto and other townships. The council, together with government at provincial and national level, needs to work to identify sites where new towns can be developed.

    5) I am not sure whether Joburg is dirty because not enough money is put into cleaning, or whether those employed to clean simply do not work. The mayor needs to ensure that there is enough money to keep the city clean.

    6) Also, the metro buses are dirty and not maintained and the reason cited for this is a lack of money...

  • Reuben Kgomo asks:
    Don't forget about our area, Orange Farm Stredford Extension 2. If you go around Orange Farm you will find that we are the only extension with no proper toilets, no street lights and no proper roads.

    Tips for the mayor
    Tell us what projects or initiatives you would like to have considered in the mayor's 2005/2006 budget by sending an email to metrowatch@star.co.za or faxing 011-836-6186.

    Clearly mark your correspondence "Tips for the Mayor". Full names and contact details must be provided.

      • This article was originally published on page 9 of The Star on May 17, 2005
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