Chair focuses on vaccination, taxi violence in sub-council report

Sub-council 18 chairperon Shanen Rossouw gave her report at the sub-council meeting on Thursday July 22.

Sub-council 18 officials have appealed to residents to register for the Covid-19 vaccinations.

Chairperson Shanen Rossouw said those who can, should register to help create a safe city. She was speaking at the sub-council meeting which was held on Thursday July 22 through a virtual sitting.

She also addressed the violence and unrest that stemmed from taxi violence across the city and urged residents not to participate in spreading false messages and videos of unrest and protest in the city.

“It is important that we must remain calm and vigilant during these times. The City of Cape Town’s enforcement services continue to work closely with police and other role-players to mitigate the threat of violence in the ongoing taxi conflict,” she said.

Ms Rossouw said the situation continued to cause tremendous hardship and anxiety among law-abiding citizens, many of whom were directly affected as they had no means to get to and from work. “Our enforcement and emergency services will continue to render assistance in any way possible to address the ongoing conflict.”

The 2020/21 financial year has officially ended and so have its projects. “We hope the projects we implemented have made a difference in the lives of our communities. We now look ahead to the commencement of our new projects for the 2021/22 financial year,” said Ms Rossouw.

She added that, with the recent adverse weather conditions, City of Cape Town teams had conducted hundreds of on-site assessments to see what assistance could be provided to flood-affected residents living in low-lying informal settlements.

“Because of the low-lying terrain, and the multiple severe storms, the water takes some time to dissipate and some areas have remained waterlogged. Some settlements have been created on unsuitable land, prone to flooding, such as dams and retention ponds. This makes flood relief unfeasible in many instances.”

Residents of these areas are encouraged to consider interventions, such as making their own sandbags, digging trenches to lead water away from entrances of dwellings and to use plastic and other waterproofing materials where possible.

Those who qualify for government subsidised housing have also been reminded that they should not pay to be placed on the City’s housing needs register.

“They should also not pay money for their state-subsidised property or a piece of City-owned land. Beneficiaries who are asked to pay in these instances are being duped by individuals or even ‘shack-farming’ syndicates,” said Ms Rossouw.

She also advised residents that housing maintenance offices were still open during normal business hours but encouraged them to phone ahead and make an appointment before visiting a housing office to prevent having to queue outside as only a limited number of people may be allowed inside.

For the Grassy Park housing office call on 021 7061833/4, for Parkwood call 021 444 1214/5, for Retreat call 021 7011 294 or alternatively call the housing hotline pn 021 444 0333 or the customer care hotline on 0800 323 130.