The councillor for Ward 68, Aubrey Snyman, has called on the residents to become more actively involved in fault reporting and to being part of a community that is pushing for better service delivery.
Following his victory at the polls in the Local Government Elections and his inauguration into the eThekwini Council last week, Cllr Snyman said he will continue to play an active role in mediations and negotiation processes – be it in the private, business or government sectors – with the best interest of the community.
He said this while calling for the residents of Austerville, Merewent, Wentworth and Merebank to unite for the betterment of their areas. “The community needs to work together united. We need to see more neighbourhood watch programmes come into play so we can once again be a community that is proud of our surroundings, with a common goal of safety and security for all who live in it,” Cllr Snyman added. An example of this he raised was a recent water leak on a late estate’s property. “The surrounding neighbours all assumed the leak was reported but two days later, the water streamed down over the main intersection causing an overflow for vehicles to pass through, only then did someone report the matter and only then was it sorted.”
After being voted in for another term in office, Cllr Snyman has promised to continue serving the residents of Ward 68 with passion, dedication and pride. In turn, he urged residents to also understand the role of a councillor, their duties and responsibilities, as we are often misled into what true control and power councillors have pertaining to certain sectors. “I will elaborate with an example: Service Delivery – we rely on service providers like Durban Solid Waste (DSW) to collect refuse and deliver refuse bags. As of late, DSW has been operating on skeleton staff due to constant strike action. These labour disputes hinder progress and in turn we have a ripple effect of late collections of refuse and drop-offs of bags. As a community we also need to assist by reporting illegal dumping as this has proven to be a great challenge in keeping our areas clean and hygienic.”
Over the years, the council has also organised many clean-ups whereby the private sectors have even come on board to assist. “For this we are extremely grateful. The Adopt-A-Spot projects, run by municipality to encourage communities to take pride in specified areas, have also impacted positively.” Cllr Snyman also urged the community to report immediately any faults on streetlights, assisting them with street names and pole numbers. “Poor visibility on the streets can also be dangerous and promotes criminal activities. The point here is the community are the eyes and ears on the streets so if these issues are not highlighted then we will not get to these timeously,” he said. Cllr Aubrey Snyman can be contacted on 082-700-7081 or 031-461-2860. Alternatively, email Cllr Snyman at snyman.aubrey@yahoo.com.
