Ursula Schenker, Plumstead
Although it is heartening that councillors have allocated parts of their R850 000 annual ward budgets to, among others, extra CCTV cameras and the employment of a law enforcement officer each, residents of Plumstead and Southfield are at a loss of how exactly this is going to assist them as the boundaries remain unaligned and impacts negatively on the communities at large and compounds the efficacy of Diep River police (“Councillors break down ward budgets”, Bulletin, July 13).
Presently the reality is that in the Plumstead area alone residents have to contend with the existence of three ward councillors (four if we take Kevin Southgate into account) with each responsible for a part or section, for example:
1. Ward 62 – Sub-council 20 – Plumstead (west of the railway line and Exeter Road; south of Park Road, Main Road and Constantia Road; east of Norman Henshilwood High School and the Rushmere Complex; and north of Doordrift Road, Wicklow Road, Gabriel Road, Main Road and Southfield Road). The sub-council manager is Richard White.
2. Ward 63 – Sub-council 18 – Plumstead (west of Prince George Drive and south of South Road; east of the railway line and north of Southfield, Ophir, Basil, Chudleigh and Dragoon roads). The sub-council manager is Okkie Michaels.
3. Ward 73 – Sub-council 20 – Plumstead (west of the railway line and Prince George Drive; south of Dragoon, Main,Gabriel, Wicklow and Doordrift roads; east of St Joan’s, Burnham and Boundary roads; and north of Old Kendal and Main roads, including Southfield (north of the railway line). The sub-council manager is Richard White.
Added to this are the differences in policing areas.
For example, Golf Links Estate, although part of Ward 63 which forms part of Plumstead, falls under Sub-council 18, located in Lotus River, and falls under SAPS Grassy Park which is another cluster entirely. This not only impacts negatively on the level of service delivery that the neighbourhood watches and private security are trying to achieve as the community partners with SAPS Diep River, but also is putting the SAPS resources (vehicles, staff) under enormous strain.
In view of the above, affected residents have no clue as to what portion of the ward allocation has been allocated to fulfil their needs as the roads continue to fall into disrepair.
Whose responsibility is it ultimately to ensure that the boundaries are correctly aligned and wards delimited in order to facilitate congruence – the City of Cape Town or the Municipal Demarcation Board?
