THE WARD COMMITTEE

ANC Councillor Juned Pahad is Chairperson of the Ward Committee of Ward 58 in Region F. The areas that fall under his Ward are Fordsburg, part of Mayfair, the Inner City and Newtown, Turfontein, Turfontein-West, Booysens, Marshalltown, City and Suburban, Selby and Ferreirastown.

What is a ward committee, who are the members and how do communities fit into the structure?

Ward Committees were created to form a relationship between local government and communities. It was found that communities – especially the previously disadvantaged – were extremely unhappy about their unresolved issues, of which have been disregarded for many years. The long trails of government officials dealing with even simple problems and not resolving them had led to the creation of Wards.

Ward 58’s aim is to address and find solutions to all unresolved issues that are plaguing suburbs, businesses and homes.
The Ward consists of the Chairperson, voluntary ward members, and is open to communities to go and air their grievances, where they will personally meet with the ward member dealing with a particular portfolio.
The monthly meetings take place every first Tuesday of each month at 7pm (19:00) at Kholvad House on Market Street in the Inner City.

The ward members portfolios and contact details are:

Achievements of the past year through the intervention of Ward 58, needs to be acknowledged:

1. Robots and speed humps were placed were urgently needed.
2. Two-way roads were converted to one-way roads, mainly in the vicinity of schools and religious institutions.
3. Successful raids on illegal establishments were carried out.
4. Arrests of criminals.
5. Evictions of squatters on properties.
6. A Letsema by Johannesburg Roads Agency was carried out in August 2007 - road surfaces, pavements and drains were repaired and/or cleaned, road markings were repainted, damaged road signs replaced, illegal posters removed, and other types of minor road cleaning and repairs.

All this is not possible without community involvement and ward committee mediation. Unfortunately, regardless of appeal to the public through the media, most residents do not take advantage of this excellent structure.
People need to mobilize themselves to contribute to the improvement of their areas. If you leave it to government departments, those improvements may never happen – and if they do, some will be incorrectly implemented.

Your first step should be to lodge a query with the particular department – example, 011-3755555 for PickitUp - and make sure to get a Reference Number. Try to get this problem resolved directly with the department through two or three communications with them.
If unsuccessful, your next step is to call Councillor Juned Pahad. He will pass on the problem to his ward member dealing with that type of work, and both you and the ward member can bring a solution to your problem – yet Juned will act as a mediator when needed.
But even better – you can bypass Juned and liaise directly with the ward member through the contact numbers we have provided.

The Ward is set for the New Year to bring conclusion to outstanding problems that they have been dealing with in 2007. Yet new unresolved queries need to be addressed by all parties to find quick and efficient resolutions.
Use your ward committee as a stepping stone to a better environment and a better community.