CRA

Ward Councillor

 

What Residents Need to Know

CraigPark: Ward 90 in Region B of the City of Johannesburg

CraigPark falls within Ward 90 in Region B of the City of Johannesburg.

Our Ward Councillor is Renate Van Onselen of the Democratic Alliance. Ward 90 includes Clynton, Craighall, Craighall Park, Dunkeld, Dunkeld West, Glenadrienne, Hurlingham, Hyde Park, part of Illovo, part of Parkmore, part of New Brighton, Riepen Park and Sandhurst.

Renate is also an ex officio member of the CRA Executive Committee, and the CRA works closely with her on matters affecting our area.

What does a Ward Councillor do? What do they not do?

What does a Ward Councillor do?

A Ward Councillor is the elected local government representative for a specific geographic area, called a ward.

The councillor’s main role is to:

  • represent residents in municipal structures;
  • raise community concerns with the City;
  • monitor municipal performance;
  • vote on municipal policies, budgets and by-laws;
  • act as a link between residents and the municipality;
  • help escalate unresolved service delivery issues.

A Ward Councillor is part of the political oversight side of local government. She is not part of the operational or administrative side of the City.

In simple terms:
the municipality is responsible for fixing faults; the councillor helps escalate, follow up and hold the City accountable.

What a Ward Councillor does not do

It is important to understand the limits of the role.

A Ward Councillor does not:

  • repair electricity faults;
  • fix water outages;
  • dispatch repair teams;
  • manage municipal staff;
  • control City Power, Joburg Water, JRA or City Parks;
  • personally determine repair timelines.

For example, power outages are handled by City Power, not the councillor. Water issues are handled by Joburg Water, roads and traffic lights by JRA, and fallen trees by City Parks.

The councillor’s role is to escalate properly logged issues, apply pressure where possible, and share confirmed updates when reliable information is available.

How service delivery escalation works

Residents should always log the issue with the correct City entity first.

Once you have a reference number, the matter can be escalated where appropriate.

Step 1: Log the fault

How to log a fault

Step 2: Get a reference number

A reference number is essential.
Without a reference number, it is very difficult for the councillor, CRA or residents to follow up properly. The reference number shows that the issue has been formally logged with the City.

Step 3: Escalate where appropriate

To escalate an individual service delivery issue, send a WhatsApp to:

Councillor Renate Van Onselen 065 674 8216

Councillor Renate Van Onselen

Please include all of the following in one WhatsApp:

Name:
Address:
Suburb:
Cell number:
Reference number:
Since when the issue has been unresolved:

Please be mindful when escalating.

The CRA will generally handle area-wide outage escalations. Residents should contact Councillor Renate Van Onselen directly for individual outages or individual unresolved service issues.

Current updates

For current service delivery updates, residents should also use:

These channels are the best place for current information, especially during outages or area-wide disruptions.