DURBAN - Fed up residents from Ottawa, which is situated close to Cornubia and Gateway Mall, embarked on a peaceful protest recently over a range of service delivery issues.
The protest was organised by the convenor of the Ottawa environment forum, Andisha Maharaj, at the weekend.
Maharaj said residents living in the area are fifth-generation families who pay rates and utilities on time and are fed up with a complete breakdown in service delivery.
“As a community, we have no issue in paying more than our fair share to cross-subsidise the poor, but we expect the municipality to provide the basics.
“Ottawa has regular outages of electricity and water. We have no pavements, potholes that can swallow you, overgrown bushes and no garden refuse collection. Police are an extinct species, and illegal businesses flourish. We have had enough and are encouraging residents to think very carefully which party they vote for on1 November,” she said.
DA councillor Rory Macpherson, who also lives in ward 102 (Ottawa), attended the protest in solidarity with the residents.
“The community of Ottawa is being short-changed, as is all of ward 102. Residents lose so much food with electricity outages which sometimes last up to 36 hours at a time and at the same time are both unable to bathe or shower due to water outages that can last for days,” he said.
During the protest, the residents of Ottawa demanded that after the election, it was important that officials be called to address the community and be held accountable for the failed delivery of quality services.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the city is aware of the constant outages in certain parts of Ottawa.
Mayisela said many of the outages could be attributed to illegal connections from the nearby informal settlement, which causes an overload and leads to the tripping of the existing infrastructure.
“The area has been supplied with additional transformers to help ease the burden on the network in order to eradicate outage volume,” he said.
Mayisela added that the relevant municipal unit would investigate the water issues in the area.
With regard to the potholes, he said the Roads and Stormwater Department falls within the Engineering Unit and operates from 23 depots in six regions within the eThekwini area. The Department is primarily responsible for the effective maintenance of roads and stormwater systems.
“All complaints related to the repair and maintenance of municipal roads including potholes and the stormwater system may be directed to the Roads and Stormwater Department via the Engineering Unit’s 24-hour Call Centre on toll-free 080 131 3013 or email [email protected],” said Mayisela.
Regarding refuse collection, Mayisela said residents are permitted to dispose of one bakkie load of garden refuse at their nearest garden sites.
“In addition, the Unit has blue garden bags which can be procured at various retail outlets or (residents can)sign a contract for blue bags to be delivered monthly at their properties.
“These bags are utilised for the containerisation of garden waste and must be placed on the verge together with black domestic bags on the collection day,” he said.
The municipality said the nearest garden site for the Ottawa residents is the Tongaat garden refuse site, which is off Edmund Morewood Road.
In response to the residents' demand to meet with municipal officials after the elections to discuss their issues, Mayisela advised residents to raise the matter with the relevant councillor after the elections.
“The city is always open to engaging with residents. We plead with residents to stop addressing their grievances through protests as these serve no purpose, and the message is lost in the chaos,” he added.
THE MERCURY