On Saturday the 8th of March, in Seaview. The eThekwini Municipality engaged with members of Ward 65 in relation to services and programmes provided by the Municipality, which are not always known or available to residents who may need access to grants, exceptions, and Indigent programmes. This gave ordinary citizens a chance to interface directly with the Municipality to discuss exorbitant Metro bills, suspension of services, and the application for Indigent Grants for those below the threshold. Citizens were also shown how to register on Eservices so they could use the Electronic billing system rather than relying on the antiquated postal service. The event was successful with the municipality indicating that by 01 April, all the new policies and programmes available to Residents will be posted on its website and that residents in Ward 65 must take advantage of what is on offer.
This programme was initiated with the assistance of the Ethekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement, an overarching body aiming to ensure that service delivery is at the core of the municipality's focus. Desmond from ERPM said that "bringing Ethekwini to the ward is critical in realising the fundamental issues on the ground and how we can all work collaboratively to restore service delivery across Ethekwini and ultimately hold the Municipality Accountable to residents."
The Turnout proved successful with Booths and Municipal staff assisting and resolving issues for citizens right then and there. Asad from ERPM said, "We hope that this engagement will be one of many in the future and that residents of Ward 65 will maximise the opportunity to resolve issues that have long existed and that eThekwini will go back with feedback on the bread and butter issues to effect real change."
Our community is thankful for Ethekwini Officials giving up their time on a Saturday to engage and for ERPM, who continue to hold the municipality to account. Read more about ERPM here. https://erpm.org.za/