Call for better services

Paul Phillips, Voice of Parkwood

Many of the challenges our communities face daily are, to my view, due to laws, by-laws, regulations and agreed-to policies not being properly enforced.

So an ever-increasing call for better services will grow louder, protest marches will become more frequent, social decay will increase and crime will spiral further out of control. There are many more challenges too numerous to list here.

A tour of our community demonstrates what happens when the law breaks down. Every dysfunctional situation is the result of a law not being adhered to.

Millions of rands are spent to address the results of the problem instead of the problem itself.

Just one example, is illegal dumping, which the City says costs it R300 million a year. Illegal dumping is a transgression of a municipal by-law. Should that law be applied vigorously, there will be a consequence for the transgressor if found guilty, that consequence should be an effective, realistic sanction that will make anyone think twice before they dump illegally.

The same approach should apply to a host of other transgressions.

Finer details on how to make such a plan work can be sourced from community leaders and workers instead of consultants and advisers who know nothing about the community’s dynamics but just add to the ever-increasing expenses bill.

We have ward and PR councillors, we have EPWP workers, we have commissioners of oath, we have community leaders and activist, we have SAPS, we have City police, the courts, the justice department, we have fed-up citizens, we have, we have ways and means to address this issue.

Consult and acknowledge community leaders and workers, irrespective of political affiliation, beliefs and background. The answer to many challenges is right in front of us.