Massive Planned Water Outage | Log Your Street Lights | Fireworks Warning

Oct 18, 2018 | Ward update

Ward Updates

 

The City is holding an Integrated Development Plan (IDP) meeting for the ward (along with Wards 86, 87, 88 and 90) on Monday 29th October at 6pm at Marks Park. This is your chance to learn more about the IDP process and how you can make inputs so that much-needed capital projects in our area are budgeted for.

 

The Parktown North 7th Ave sidewalk paving is coming along nicely although I think the budget won’t run to to completing both sides. The Parktown North Res Assn Chair, Lee-Anne Louverdis, has been of great help in managing the project to ensure that there has been minimal impact and inconvenience to the affected properties.

 

Joburg Water have set up a temporary camp at the old Parkhurst Bowls and Soccer Club in Victory Road. It is for their contractors who are working on the Greenside Pipe Replacement Project and they should be there for 4-6 months. It is hope the tender for this land will be awarded this month – the Tender Adjudicating Committee under the auspices of the City Manager have been blocking this, and several other, tenders for over a year now.

 

Joburg Water have informed me that the pressure release valve project will be starting soon. The most immediate effect of this will be a new water pipe being laid along 1st Ave West from Sutherland Rd to 5th Ave on the Parktown North side.

 

Pikitup are now back to normal after the adhoc vehicle contract mess 2 weeks ago. Pikitup have about 100 or so of their own vehicles, but they are very old and at any given time, only about 50% of them are working. They thus need to supplement their ageing fleet with hired compactors until the new fleet starts arriving in late 2019. The officials who messed up have been suspended pending an investigation. Read more here.

 

Related to the Pikitup fleet issue – the separation at source scheme operating to the east of the Braamfontein Spruit in the ward seems to be gaining strength. If you are using the scheme by putting your clean recyclables in the blue (or purchased clear) bags, then missing a week of trash collection should not have been that much of a problem. In my case, I also have a small worm farm and compost bin, so I only have 1/2 a trash bag of rubbish that goes into my bin. Note that the monthly charge you pay is NOT a bin collection fee, but a waste management fee. So even if you took your trash to the dump or threw in a pile on the sidewalk, the city still has to deal with it. Hence you won’t get a refund. But more importantly, if we don’t reduce our volume of trash we will run out of landfill in the city within 5-7 years and the city will then have to transport the trash to a landfill 100s of kilometres away – and we will have to pay a huge amount more to manage that.

10000 Households to be Without Water on 24 Oct

There will be a Planned Water Outage on Wed 24 Oct fm 8am to 5pm (probably be later than this as there are often delays in the maintainnce and it takes a few hours to slowly release the water in the system afterwards).

Affected areas are: Houghton; Rosebank; Melrose & Exts; Melrose Estate; Birdhaven; Killarney; Saxonwold; Riviera; Parktown North; Dunkeld; Parkwood.

For updates on the day follow me on Twitter – @jozi117 and jhb Water – @jhbwater (note that @joburgwater is a parody account).

Street Light Campaign Launched by Mayor Mashaba

 

Street lights suffer from many problems – rotten and damaged poles, old light fittings, old cabling, old connectors, fluctuating power supply, timers not working, cable theft, etc. But Mayor Mashaba has promised to spend R151 million this year to maintain and repair street lights. In Region B we now have an extra street light team that will work on suburban streets as well as one that will concentrate on the main arterial roads.

So, in order to both get our lights fixed and keep them fixed, I have created an online form for you to post any pesky lights that need fixing. It is important though that you log them first via citypower.mobi (this is the best way to log anything with City Power – you will need to register 1st though). You can also log via the CoJ call centre, but sometimes you will wait quite a while to connect to an operator and you will need to manually record the ref # and date logged. Using citypower.mobi, you get a ref # sent to you via SMS as well as being able to see your previous logged issues which makes it easier to escalate.

To log a street light, you need to supply the address, preferably the pole # (its usually written on the pole at about head height). Once logged, you can complete the form and I will collate the list and send it off to City Power. If it gets fixed, then please let me know via email, whats ap or SMS.

 

On 9 October 2018, Mayor Herman Mashaba visited Soweto to launch the street light campaign. The press release is below.

As part of the Diphetogo mission to improve the lives of our residents who need basic service delivery the most, City Power has embarked on a city-wide campaign to fix all street lights and install new ones.

To facilitate this service delivery, the City has invested R45 million this financial year for street lighting and allocated R151 million towards any maintenance required. This will see 8500 street lights being repaired in the current financial year to create a safe and liveable environment for our residents.

Mayor Mashaba is aware that Soweto has experienced the misfortune of malfunctioning lights which have exposed residents to safety and security concerns due to cable theft, illegal connections and vehicles collision with streetlight poles.

City Power plans to install more new streetlights in Soweto this financial year in areas which include Bramfischerville, Meadowlands and Protea Glen.

While City Power’s technical teams are faced with repair and maintenance challenges including backlogs, it remains vital to ensure equipment is maintained regularly to avoid any inconvenience on our residents.

Ongoing illegal connections and the theft of streetlight lamps, fuses and streetlight covers are a matter of concern.

Residents are urged to report theft and vandalism of streetlights, cable theft and vehicle collision with streetlight poles at 011 490 7911 or 011 490 7900 or 011 490 7504 or 011 490 7553 or at their nearest police station.

Diwali and Guy Fawkes Fire Works Warning

Diwali this year is from 6-8 November and Guy Fawkes Day is 5 November. The bylaws are pretty contradictory on fireworks, but one of the best and most commonsense guides is on the City Parks website and dates from 2015. I have reproduced it below with some minor edits:

The do’s and don’ts of Guy Fawkes, Diwali fireworks

Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) has called on residents to comply with the City’s fireworks by-laws and exercise restraint when they celebrate Guy Fawkes Day and Diwali.

EMS Spokesperson Nana Radebe says fireworks can only be set off between 7pm and 10pm on both Guy Fawkes Day and Diwali. Anyone who does not abide by the by-law faces a R1500 fine. Radebe says residents also need to be mindful of children and pets.

“No one under the age of 16 is allowed to handle or use fireworks, except when they are under the supervision of an adult,” Radebe cautions.

“You cannot use fireworks within 500m of any explosives factory, explosives storage place, petrol depot, petrol station, inside any building and at any public place, including schools, old age homes and hospitals.”

Residents are urged to:

  • Pick a site appropriate for lighting fireworks;
  • Keep animals indoors, with the curtains closed and the TV or radio switched on to distract them;
  • Check the wind direction before starting the display;
  • Keep the fireworks out of children’s reach; and
  • Pick up all the remains of the fireworks after the display.

Fireworks should only be handled by adults. Children should watch the display from a distance. Usually to stage a fireworks display, residents need written permission from the Fireworks Working Committee or Chief Fire Officer in their region.

But permission is not needed for days of cultural and religious celebrations, including Diwali, Chinese New Year, Human Rights Day, Guy Fawkes Day, Christmas Eve and the Day of Goodwill. But you must abide by the stipulated times mentioned above.

In case of an emergency, residents are urged to call (011) 375-5911 or 10111.

Community News

 

Saxonwold and Parkwood Residents Assoc AGM moved to 30 Oct at 6pm at the Military History Museum in Saxonwold.The guest speaker is Dr Azar Jammine, Director and Chief Economist of Econometrix.

Annual Bra Dash for Breast Cancer, 10am Sunday 28 Oct in 4th Ave, Parkhurst. Meet at Craft Restaurant beforehand to register and make your donation.

Blood Drive at the Northern Suburbs Tennis Club in Blandford Rd, Parkwood on Sat 3 Nov from 9am to 1pm: This was started by one of the Parkwood residents and Ward Committee member. I now donate blood there and challenge you all to do the same. Tracy has also done wonders on upgrading the adjacent Fearnhead Park – it has one the highest old original slides in Jozi as well as witches hat and other heritage playground equipment. More Info: Tracy on 082-903-6142.

94.7 Cycle Race on Sun 18 Nov: Jan Smuts Ave will be closed from 5’30am to around 2pm. BE PREPARED. More info will be provided closer to the time.

Join The DA

If you want to join the DA, it costs R10 a year, or, I would recommend you take out a 5 year membership of R50. Please contact my Branch Membership Secretary – Teigue Payne on 082-892-2218 / teigue.payne@gmail.com. He will send the address where you can sign up and pay online. You can be from anywhere in Joburg as you will be allocated by Head Office to the Branch in your respective ward.

Subscribe to My Newsletter

If you have been forwarded this email, or if you want to sign up a friend or relative, then Click on This Link.

My Online Business Card

All you have to do is click on the link below to open up my online card and then click on the online “Save As Contact” link. Click here to access my Online Business Card

You can also access various useful links and sign up to my newsletter,  as well as forward the link to others.