A lack of basic service delivery, proper storm water drainage and safe electricity connections were some of the urgent concerns that community members addressed with Ekurhuleni Mayor Mzwandile Masina in Katlehong on Friday morning.

Masina has committed himself and his administration staff to spending Fridays in the streets attending to pertinent issues that are affecting people.

During their walk through the Katlehong community, the parking outside the Huntersfield Stadium was found to be vandalised, and steel poles were stolen along with electricity cables.

“When the stadium is not used and there is little activity here, vandals have a lot of time to cause nonsense,” municipality spokesperson, Zweli Dlamini said. He added that the Sport and Recreation Department was tasked with finding a temporary solution until the department could find an alternate use for the stadium.

Short circuits caused by open electricity cables were found on the surface of the parking lot and not too far down the road, community members complained about flooding caused by a lack of storm water drainage.

Masina said that being present in communities was part of the municipality’s plan to drive a “pro-poor” agenda. During Masina’s run for office, he said: “…our people raised a number of issues with us. Among these was the fact that after the election, politicians tend to disappear yet they, as communities, face service delivery challenges.”

To change the common ‘disappearing act’ of politicians, Masina has chosen to spend time in communities to “have a sense of what the issues on the ground are and attend to them timeously”.

“We are calling on our people to freely engage us when we visit them so that we have a clear picture of what we are dealing with and how best we can handle that” he said.