DA waste removal plan

DA will deliver waste removal service for all Tshwane residents

Residents of the Tshwane Metro have the worst access to refuse removal of all the country’s six metro cities, according to the 2010 quality of life survey conducted by the department of cooperative government and traditional affairs.

However, Tshwane is not the only area where refuse removal remains a problem. Today Brandon Topham conducted a joint visit with the DA’s Johannesburg Mayoral Candidate, Mmusi Maimane, in Rabie Ridge. Johannesburg is currently experiencing a refuse removal strike. Refuse removal strikes in neighbouring municipalities also affect Tshwane when refuse is spilled into rivers and streams. Hence the combined visit by the Tshwane and Johannesburg mayoral candidates today.

Irregular waste removal afflicts every community and this was very clear in Rabie Ridge today where garbage littered the whole neighbourhood and piling up on street corners as waste removal remains non-existent in the area.

During the visit Topham announced the DA’s plan to ensure uninterrupted universal waste removal services for all residents in the Tshwane Metro.

Waste removal has to be part of the package of free basic services which indigent residents receive, and the DA will make sure that this commitment is not confined to the realm of policy but implemented in practice.

The following eight point plan will direct the DA approach to ensure a reliable refuse removal service:

· Ensure that the right people are employed to the right positions: The first pillar of an effective and efficient government is its staff. The DA will link bonuses for senior management to objectively verifiable indicators, such as clean audit reports and performance reports and will ensure that municipal employees are appointed by an independent appointment committee, the voting members of which will be municipal officials.

· Improve transparency: The DA will open all council meetings, all Mayoral Committee meetings and all tendering processes would be thrown open to the public. In this way, the public can scrutinize council activities, suggest alternatives and hold the administration accountable. This will help to ensure that municipal owned entities, like Pikitup in Johannesburg, are subject to much greater levels of public scrutiny.

· Make local government more accountable: The DA will draw up a Service Level Agreement to set minimum service levels and standards that can be expected from the city, according to the financial position of the council. This Agreement will be publically available on the City of Johannesburg’s website, and will accompany all official communication sent to residents. It will also include a signed ‘Mayor’s Pledge’ that commits the Council to uphold its provisions. Furthemore, a DA-run administration will regularly measure levels of public satisfaction regarding service delivery and provide quarterly updates on the progress of the various municipal projects. By actively building accountability mechanisms such as performance contracts into the city administration, public representatives and public officials can be held to their word; and removed if they do not perform.

· Improve public communication with the City: A DA-run City Council will improve the channels of the communication between the City and members of the public by revamping the current call centre system. This would involve introducing improved training for call centre staff and putting in place specialist teams dedicated to dealing with enquiries received by call centres.

· Bring government closer to the people: By creating sub-councils that cater to the unique needs of each region within a municipality, service delivery becomes more flexible and responsive to the needs of people in every area; in addition to simply being closer and more accessible to the people. These sub-councils can therefore cater to the unique refuse removal challenges of every area much better than a centralized administration with a one-size-fits-all policy.

· Prioritisation of expenditure: The DA will rigorously prioritise expenditure, spending first on the infrastructure, goods and services essential for the health and development of Johannesburg’s people. This expenditure will include: implementing effective sewerage reticulation and waste removal systems, the maintenance and renewal of infrastructure (which is essential if services are to be delivered effectively) and providing infrastructure to new settlements and developments.

· Promote recycling: The DA will set waste reduction targets and engage with individual sectors in their areas to develop mechanisms to promote the reduction, re-use, recycling and recovery of waste.

· Partner with the private sector: Where feasible, a DA-run City Council will involve the private sector to enable more effective service delivery and to ensure back up plans are in place.