Today I performed an oversight visit with Cllr Bridget Steer in Ward 87 to understand the challenges and highlights of the City’s Augmented Field Services unit within the Citizen Relations and Urban Management (CRUM) department in Region B, following our recent oversight in Region F (comprising of the inner city).
I also met with Councillor Tim Truluck, Ward 117, to engage on his thoughts around CRUM operations as well as the AFS directorate – what’s working and what could be done better?
On arrival at Jan Smuts Avenue, the AFS team were busy skoffeling, clearing vegetation growth and doing general cleaning. This particular section is something Cllr Steer has been demanding to be addressed for the past 5 years but limited resources, improper planning and in some cases deaf political ears, meant this has been dragging on without resolution. I was impressed with how diligently the AFS team worked throughout the morning.
The purpose of the AFS directorate is to augment the City’s service delivery entities and departments such as Pikitup, City Parks and JRA, to name but a few. They essentially complement the work that the City does by providing much needed additional resources to ensure services are delivered to residents in a more efficient and effective manner. In most instances these teams are working exceptionally well, however, there is a lack of consistency across the board which we will be addressing to ensure that every ward benefits equally across the City.
When the Multi-Party Government came into office, this unit had been partially recruited without any proper business case for operations and nor were they capacitated in terms of training, protective gear or tools. I have spent the past several weeks looking at this model and engaging extensively with the Mayor, Dr Mpho Phalatse, and my fellow MMCs as well as the teams in CRUM, Ward Councillors and the AFS teams themselves to address issues and enhance their viability. I am very pleased to say that we have worked out solutions which are currently being implemented. This includes capacitating teams and looking at training options through the City’s facilities which already exist - these will be implemented within the next few months.
We have a mammoth task ahead of us in terms of addressing the severe service delivery shortfalls and infrastructure maintenance backlogs the City currently faces, which is where the AFS directorate can and is making a positive impact citywide. We need to ensure that residents’ money is spent honestly and properly while delivering world-class services and providing the best working environment for our employees.
Media enquiries:
McKinnley Mitchell
Communications and Stakeholder Manager
Office of the MMC for Group Corporate and Shared Services
McKinnleyM@Joburg.org.za | 078 800 3047
22/08/2022
