IDP and Public Participation meetings currently under-way continue to draw crowds hungry for accelerated service delivery, job creation and crime reduction. The meeting held yesterday evening, April 20, 2018 in the Chatty Community Hall was no different. Hundreds of residents from Wards 29, 41, 38, 37 and 34 flocked to the hall, many ferried by buses to be part of a meeting seeking to shape the direction and pace of service delivery in the respective wards. The meeting, chaired by PR Councillor Rano Kayser, who is also a Councillor mandated to do political oversight in the Northern Areas, was attended by both Executive Mayor Athol Trollip, Council Speaker Jonathan Lawack and Council Chief Whip Werner Senekal. Residents from all the wards continued to highlight unemployment, housing delivery and crime to be prioritised for planning and budgeting. A single mother of three, Geraldine Moses from Chatty, said that unemployment was a major problem. "In our area, we have young people, some with skills, loitering in the streets without jobs. This is one of the direct contributors to crime. Although we are grateful about the Metro Police offices opened in Chatty, our children need jobs to be able to make a future for themselves and their children," said Moses. A young Nosipho Matroos from Joe Slovo township, recently marred by violent protests related to illegal invasion of land, said: "If we can get jobs, we can take the burden off the subsidy housing waiting list. We can be in a position to buy our own houses. "We need jobs, time is not waiting for us," said Matroos. Some of the residents raised the issue of relocation from vulnerable areas to much more suitable areas. They called on the Municipality to improve on consultation and be pro-active in relation to relocations. The Executive Mayor said work has already been done in areas like Chatty in the short period that the current government held office. "We will not be satisfied until all our people are served with the dignity and care they deserve. These meetings are a good platform for resident to shape their destiny. These are your meetings as residents; you must then lead us and guide us to lead you to the right direction. You must say: nothing about us is without us, contributing constructively to your own development," emphasised the Executive Mayor. … [Read more...]