Last week President Cyril Ramaphosa and Gauteng Premier David Makhura visited the township to address protesting residents who were angered over poor service delivery.

Ramaphosa asked a team of ministers to engage with community leaders and report back to him. He also told the Johannesburg metro to clean up the township.

On Wednesday, the team of ministers met with the Alexandra Total Shutdown Committee following the visit of Ramaphosa last week Thursday.

Ramaphosa directed that the inter-ministerial task team must, within one week, meet with the committee and ensure the concerns raised by the community were addressed.

Among the issues were raised in Alexandra were land and release of title deeds to unlock future development, as well as court orders prohibiting building on the land, a high demand for housing, illegal occupation of houses and other premises for unscrupulous money-making schemes. 

Lack of refuse removal and the illegal dumping of litter resulting in intolerable stench and unhygienic conditions and failure to remove illegal structures and the mushrooming of shacks located under high voltage lines, river banks and flood plains, school premises and unused empty old factories were also among the community's grievances.

The IMTT has directed that the ministry of police visit Alexandra police stations and work with the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) and other departments within the justice, crime prevention and security cluster to enforce crime prevention measures with immediate effect.

They encouraged all departments and spheres of government to undertake their own sectoral work and participate in the preparation for an intergovernmental meeting that will be held on 24 April, to include the Gauteng provincial government as well as the City of Johannesburg. 

The IMTT urged all departments to prepare inputs, proposals and plans for the intergovernmental meeting to implement solutions on service delivery in Alexandra for consideration in the next meeting.

"All this must augment the work done by the IMTT technical team led by directors-general which includes provincial and municipal officials, which is already at work in preparation for a comprehensive plan for Renewal of Alexandra."

ANA