Ward 33 Councillor, Sakhile Mngadi, said he has been inundated with messages, emails and calls from the community regarding service delivery issues and maintenance in the ward.
Cllr Mngadi said he recently had a meeting with the management of St Augustine’s Hospital to discuss issues raised including the sewage spill on JB Marks Road just outside the hospital.
“We discussed and did a site inspection of the road regarding its state and the sewage spill around the area which was believed to be a result of activity inside the hospital. It was determined that the sewage spill around the area was not a result of the activity the hospital had done. A maintenance team has been called and are currently on site clearing the mess and sanitising the area,” said Cllr Mngadi.
He added that he would also be in contact with the site owners of 132 JB Marks Road earmarked for development of a private hospital.
“Owners of the site have not conducted maintenance which has affected overgrowth on the road. This will be escalated and the owners will be formally charged by the City if this is not corrected in the next 21 Days,” Cllr Mngadi said.
Cllr Mngadi further added that residents also raised the issue of the “neglected” Meyrick Bennet Park during a recent meeting.
“After meeting with residents regarding the state of the park, it was declared by the hospital that during the construction of their parking-lot they did not make use of the park. It has also been revealed that the hospital had made a proposal to adopt the park, fence it fully and provide and pay for its security, including the maintenance. Two residents objected to this and objected to the hospital using the park. It was these objections that have lead to the challenges experienced by this park and surrounding residents and these may take time to resolve considering the general state of the park and the unit responsible,” he said.
Cllr Mngadi said that he has not ended relations with management and will submit a request for reconsideration.
“In future it is advised that no resident should unilaterally claim to speak on behalf of this ward, as your duly elected representative, it is both my duty and mandate to do this, I will of course always enter into consultations with you all to ensure all concerns are noted and addressed. I do believe that the plan the hospital had for the park was a good one and it is unfortunate that two people amongst us did not want to see this happen; I’ll be investigating the reasons why,” added Cllr Mngadi.
