THE Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Standing Committee on Petitions convened its quarterly public hearings on the 14th and 15th of September 2018 in Hammanskraal, where residents from the Greater Tshwane area were invited to present their service delivery concerns before the committee.
The two-day hearings Sebothoma Hall in Hammanskraal were aimed at resolving service delivery disputes between communities and authorities in a constructive and peaceful manner and to discourage communities from resorting to violent demonstrations to express their dissatisfaction. Members of the Gauteng Legislature’s Standing Committee on Petitions encouraged community members to submit petitions/grievances/complaints in writing at the hearings, after which the committee invites government officials to explain before the committee their failure to resolve the petitions and how they intend to speedily sort out the complaints of the petitioners.
In accordance with the Gauteng Petitions Act (no. 5 of 2002), Gauteng residents have a constitutional right to submit petitions requesting provincial departments and municipalities to resolve service delivery shortcomings in their communities. “Through these hearings, we are trying to demonstrate to the communities that they don’t have to burn schools to get clinics,” said Honourable Patrick Sindane, a member of the Standing Committee on Petitions, who attended the hearings. “What we have learnt from the hearings is that there are many challenges that our people are faced with and political leadership needs to listen to their concerns and demonstrate political will to resolve community problems,” said Honourable Sindane.
The Standing Committee on Petitions, chaired by Honourable Refilwe Mogale, consists of eight members, who are members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.
The Hammanskraal hearings dealt with a myriad of petitions that varied in nature and scope, but the main thrust of the petitions was lack of delivery of basic municipal services or poor quality of services.
“Although the committee’s role is to facilitate the resolution of community concerns through mediation, we have the power to subpoena officials to appear before the committee to account for failure to resolve petitions and explain how they are going to resolve the petitions,” said Honourable Lebo More, a member of the Gauteng Legislature’s Standing Committee on Petitions.
Day 1:
On the first day of the hearings, which took place on the 14th of September 2018, the committee dealt with a number of petitions, mostly against the City of Tshwane and the Gauteng Provincial Department of Education.
The Gauteng Provincial Department of Education was called in by the committee to respond to three petitions against it. The first petition related to an unprocessed Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) claim of a former scholar patroller at the Iketleng Primary School; the second petition was about lack of development in Kopanong (ward 20), where there is no school, hospital, clinic, and a police station; and the third petition related to unsafe working conditions at the department’s Fox and Loveday buildings in the Johannesburg Central Business District (CBD).
The Gauteng Department of Education provided an extensive feedback about how it plans to resolve the issues, but it indicated it has resolved the first petition and was working to fully resolve the third petition. The second petition requires the proclamation of Kopanong as a formal township by the City of Tshwane before the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development can move in to build the required social infrastructure (schools, clinics, police stations) in the area.
The public hearings also tackled petitions related to lack of delivery of basic services in Temba, request to revamp Ga-Rankuwa Stadium, billing problems at City of Tshwane, and request for delivery of clean water at Temba and Suurman.
Day 2:
On the day two of the public hearings, which took place on the 15th of September 2018, the committee dealt with petitions aimed encouraging the City of Tshwane to provide basic services in surrounding areas. Ward 107 in Atteridgeville took centre stage, where it brought in four petitions against the City of Tshwane. The four petitions related to collection of refuse; non-maintenance of a local park; lack or poor maintenance of tarred roads; and storm water drainage problems. Some of Ward 107’s petitions were responded to by city officials and some were not. With regards to the collection of refuse, the City of Tshwane undertook to collect waste twice a week in the area as opposed to removing it once a week. The Standing Committee on Petitions has undertaken to follow up on the petitions until they are resolved. The committee will invite relevant authorities to appear before it to provide submit reports about what they are doing to resolve the petitions.
The committee also dealt with the petition related to lack of street lights and extension of roads at Block K in Soshanguve. The City of Tshwane is currently engaging with Eskom to install a new network of street lights. The project is 40% complete and once fully complete the network will be handed over to the City of Tshwane to operate and maintain. The petitioner was not happy that the project was taking longer to finalise. The Standing Committee on Petitions recommended the petitioner, City of Tshwane, and Eskom to hold a meeting to discuss the matter with a view of speeding up the implementation of the project.
The committee also heard petitions about request for a park Extension 1 in Temba and lack of service delivery and development in the area.
