The Expanded Public Works Programme, the number of job seekers on the sub-council database and a revised informal trading plan for Ward 76 were some of the issues on the agenda at the monthly Sub-council 23 meeting.
The meeting, which was initially held on Tuesday August 14, was postponed to Tuesday August 21 as there was not a quorum to proceed.
The sub-council was requested by the area based service delivery directorate to recommend to the executive mayor that council consider the adoption of a new informal trading plan for a portion of Ward 76 (the Lentegeur precinct).
The directorate said after ongoing discussions with role-players and in light of the precinct upgrade, the economic development department has reviewed the existing informal trading plan, and where practical and in line with City by-laws, has proposed increasing the number of trading sites at the precinct.
It said there is also a need to create legal and appropriate informal trading opportunities for the informal traders who are currently trading illegally at the interchange.
The plan will cover the tenant management of the kiosk trading, markets and street trading.
Goawa Timm, councillor for Ward 76 (Lentegeur and Ikwezi Park), said traders are still standing in front of shops, fish traders are selling their goods on the pavement, traffic is disrupted and there is vandalism of the new infrastructure.
Ronald du Plessis, assets and facilities manager responsible for upgrades and maintenance for South Region Area 4, said they manage and implement maintenance plans by assessing conditions, cost and roll-out.
The branch has 237 officials and excludes the newly created 56 posts. These posts are intended as mobile maintenance units for area north, south, central and east, focusing on health and safety issues such as water leaks, floods and pipe and gyeser bursts.
In response to Ward 75 councillor Joan Woodman’s comments that some backyard dwellings on rental stock still need to be fenced, Mr Du Plessis said this remains a challenge. “The funding left over is very little,” he said.
Ms Woodman’s ward consists of Colorado Park, Morgen’s Village, Westgate, Wildwood, Rondevlei Park, Woodlands, Philippi, Highlands Village, Hyde Park, New Woodlands and Weltevreden Valley (east of Jakes Gerwel Drive).
Salome Sekgonyana, head of the City’s Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), said 35 178 work opportunities and 10 291 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employment opportunities were created in the 2017/2018 financial year through the implementation of 642 projects in various sub-councils.
Workers were provided with skills training in artisan assistant programmes, on the job training in the hospitality industry and basic computer skills.
The sub-council also received a report from the area based service delivery directorate (area 4) on how many job seekers’ details were captured on its database for the June/ July period. In June, the details of 128 job seekers were captured for wards 33, 43, 75 and 76. This figure rose to 180 in July.
Elton Jansen, the councillor for Ward 43 and chairperson of Sub-council 23, submitted a motion that the road reserve along Spine Road in Strandfontein be developed into a non-motorised transport (NMT) system.
“The area has a huge population of health conscious residents who use the road reserve along Spine Road from Rocklands to Bayview. The lack of NMT also contributes to the high percentage of road accident fatalities. I therefore move that all the possibilities be investigated and funding prioritised for the development,” said Mr Jansen.
The next Sub-council 23 meeting is on Tuesday September 17 at 10am at the Lentegeur sub-council chambers, off Merrydale Avenue. Call 021 444 8722 for details.