Laying down the law in Yeoville

City agencies and departments are out in full force in Yeoville, where they are enforcing by-laws and promoting civic pride. Education is a key component of the operation.
CITY departments and municipal-owned entities (MOEs) are out in full force this week to enforce by-laws in Region F, which encompasses the densely populated suburb of Yeoville.

A bad buidling in the inner cityA bad buidling in the inner cityRepresentatives from City Power, Joburg Water, Johannesburg Road Agency, metro police, environmental health and stakeholder management took a letsema operation to the streets of the area.

According to Shaun O’Shea, the head of stakeholder management and liaison in the region, the multi-disciplinary operation is part of the mayor’s 90-day Accelerated Service Delivery Programme. Yet some of the projects the stakeholders are undertaking will be ongoing.

The mayoral programme is aimed at getting the basics right across the city. In Region F, the letsema operation will be extended to Malvern next week, and Cyrildene and Cleveland the following week.

Since 7 September, O’Shea has led a team from his department that is teaching residents about by-laws. “Each day of this week [we work] at a specific block in Yeoville. We meet here at 9am for a briefing of what we will be doing for the day,” he said.

“My team is doing public education on issues such as illegal street trading, waste management, building hijacking, what people should know and what should they do about it, and just general city pride – to be proud of your city because if you are you will take care of the environment.”

And the response had been genuinely good, “although a lot of people become a bit hesitant when they see City officials because they are scared of being arrested”.

In his 90-day plan, Executive Mayor Parks Tau had committed all departments and MOEs to getting the basics right and addressing service delivery breakdowns and general crime and grime across Johannesburg.

Ways to combat illegal dumpingIllegal dumping is rife in places like YeovilleChallenges being addressed include refurbishing roads, tree pruning and grass cutting in parks, water issues involving meters and leaks, electricity issues including illegal connections, clearing illegal dumping as well as inspection of fire safety equipment.

The town planning department is looking into illegal land use and zoning, while environmental health is focusing on food preparation and cooking on pavements. Buildings are also being inspected to ensure they have correct building plans and are structurally safe.

Illegal trading hotspots in the inner city are at Noord, Faraday and Bree Street taxi ranks, according to research compiled by the City’s department of strategy development and planning. Joburg is planning to formalise informal trading by building a facility that will house traders. This way they will be removed from the pavements.

The initiative will be activated once all stakeholders have been consulted in the beginning of the new financial year, which starts in July.

According to O’Shea, the mayoral committee member for development planning and urban management, Ruby Mathang, had said the support of all stakeholders and City departments was vital to ensure the success of the operation and ultimately attain the goal of a clean and well-managed environment.

The letsema operation was launched on 5 September and will run until the end of the month.