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Newcastle Municipality’s new administration appears to be placing a premium on service delivery. This follows the Newcastle Municipality’s Deputy Mayor, Cllr Musa Thwala, committing himself to ensuring continuous improvements on rolling issues.
It is worth noting that the Newcastillian – Online News reported on 10 February 2022 that Cllr Thwala was on a mission to bring resolution to Newcastle’s suburbs due to dysfunctional streetlights.
To read the full article, click here.
Nevertheless, following his announcement and promise to conduct regular streetlight inspections, Deputy Mayor and Technical Services Portfolio Chairperson, Cllr Thwala appears to have hit the ground running.
The Deputy Mayor and the Speaker of Council, Cllr Thengi Zulu, conducted a similar inspection of streetlights down Amethyst Drive—a road well-known for faulty streetlights.
Post the visit, Cllr Thwala announced that every streetlight on Amethyst Drive had been repaired as of Wednesday morning, 16 February 2022.
Furthermore, he stated that the Newcastle Municipality had noted other broken streetlights, and the public will be notified once they have been repaired.
Additionally, the Deputy Mayor assured that this was not the end. In fact, he emphasised that the streetlights are just the beginning of the new administration’s efforts to address failing service delivery.
He assured residents of Mdozo, Osizweni, Madadeni, Charles Town, and Newcastle that his oversight visits would be completed only after every streetlight, pothole, and water issue had been resolved.
Potholes and water problems, such as burst pipes and sewage leaks, are both issues that Newcastillians are all too familiar with.
Following a statement, the Deputy Mayor is keeping a close eye on the work and going out to inspect the problems on-site. Thus, the Newcastle community can expect significant changes.
Cllr Thwala believes that his hands-on approach is necessary for resolving Newcastle’s service delivery issues. “The Technical Services Portfolio has challenged itself to ensure that matters related to electrical, water and roads issues are attended to. I strongly believe that we are on the right path. Our announced visits and inspections are to ensure that everything is done accordingly. Service delivery is about working with speed, and we need to constantly remind our public servants that we all serve the people of Newcastle and not the other way round,” remarked Deputy Mayor Cllr Thwala.
What are your thoughts on the matter? Share your views in the comment section below.
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One Response
In Hutten Heights we have the Refuse Truck coming past our houses at before 07h00 in the morning. This means that you have to get up early, or leave the rubbish out overnight. Either options are not acceptable.
Many people are preparing for work at this time. As they leave they will take the rubbish bags out. Many houses still had bags standing outside for days as they were not aware of this early time.
Can we not have a later time ? To tell me about internal arrangements while my rubbish is being torn up by street walkers and dogs is unreasonable. I was not informed about rubbish removal from 06h00 in the morning. Also times vary and it is difficult to know what the arrangements are. Sometimes the truck comes past at just past 06h00 and on other days in the afternoon.
I am sure most of my neighbours were not informed of this either.