On Thursday, 16 August 2018, we took the Mayoral Pop-Up Office to Albow Gardens near Brooklyn where the City of Cape Town is also refurbishing Council Rental Units (CRUs).
I was joined by Mayoral Committee Members Suzette Little and Stuart Diamond, as well as Ward Councillor Fabian Ah-Sing.
This is the fifth time we have taken the Mayoral Pop-Up Office to our communities to further boost the City of Cape Town’s relations with its residents.
This new initiative by the Mayor’s office is a realisation of the City’s Organisational Development and Transformation Plan (ODTP) goal of building a customer-centric administration that is responsive to the needs of our residents.
We started our visit this morning with a walkabout of the Albow Gardens Council Rental Units that are currently being upgraded by the City.
The Albow Gardens CRUs comprises 212 units which are home to approximately 1 272 residents.
The project started in October 2017, with three blocks at the south-end of the complex being upgraded and completed in the 2017/2018 financial year.
Upgrades included repairs to staircases, cracked walls, leaking roofs, eaves gutters, downpipes and windows and the painting of facades has also been completed. The total project cost was R2,1 million.
The City provided jobs and much needed skills for possible future employment opportunities by appointing local residents to assist in the project.
‘The upgrade project forms part of the City’s asset management plan to improve the condition of the City’s rental stock units. The Council rental units are a vital part of the affordable residential accommodation continuum that provides homes to the poorest of the poor residents,’ said Councillor Diamond
Further upgrades will focus on water saving initiatives, and will start in September 2018. The upgrades will include internal and external works such as:
- leak repairs
- Installing dual-flush in-toilet cisterns
- Installing restrictors in existing taps for wash basins and kitchen sinks
- Replacing broken sanitary ware where applicable
- Moving stack pipes (waste outlet pipes) from inside the unit, and to surface mount these to external building walls
The City will also be employing local labour for this project and spend approximately R4 million in the 2018/2019 financial year. The project is expected to be completed by mid-December 2018, if all goes as planned.
One of the beneficiaries of the project is 72-year-old Ms Safia Moosa who was previously on the housing database for 27 years. The pensioner lived in Manenberg before she was handed the keys to her rental unit which she occupies with her son and two grandchildren.
The City converted the underutilised old housing office into a rental unit which is now home to the Moosa family.
I was also really impressed with the community food garden which has been started to encourage a healthy lifestyle among residents.
The garden was established by the City through the previous Ward Councillor with the assistance from a member of the Provincial Legislature. It is being kept running by the residents who give their time to clear weeds, water the plants, and harvest the produce.
The City’s social development department also donates soil and seedlings.
This garden is a good example of how residents can partner with local government to improve their communities and empower residents.
I’m grateful to those involved in the project and councillor Ah-Sing for leaving this and other successful projects in Ward 55.
Over the last few months we have worked to foster greater collaboration between communities and the City through the Mayoral Pop-Up Office. This is to ensure that our residents have a platform where they can share their concerns about service delivery, as well as their ideas on how the City can improve services to the community.
Following our previous Pop-Up office in Masiphumelele where residents mostly raised issues around a lack of housing, the City has conducted a two-day registration drive in the community. More than 800 people were registered during that campaign.
Residents were also advised of the Phase 4 Project, which will provide housing opportunities to Masiphumelele, including those near a wetland. All 12 individual complaints received during that Pop-Up office last month has been responded to and closed.
Through this innovative concept we are also able to provide Capetonians with information of services and updates on projects in their communities.
We remain committed to ensuring the best quality of service for all residents of this great city.
Our interaction with residents should not end with the Pop-Up office. I am encouraging residents to keep connecting with their Area-based Mayoral Committee Members, Ward Councillors and Subcouncil offices on a regular basis so that they can be informed of developments in their wards and work with us to build safe and inclusive communities.