Durban — A Durban woman aims to inform and educate citizens on how to deal with municipal issues and also change the narrative that the City does not want to help people.
Urban Improvement Precinct (UIP) Florida Road manager Vanessa Knight recently collaborated with Olive Tree Church, which is based on Florida Road, to form the We Built This City initiative.
Using her experience with various UIPs and ratepayer associations, Knight says she wants to teach people how to take their power back. She is this week’s unsung hero.
Knight says the eThekwini Municipality wants to help, but it needs to know what to fix so that it can fix it.
“In 2018, I started off with the Beachway Bike Park and through my volunteering I ensured that there were floodlights in the park for cycling at night. I got Marshall Security to donate to the park. It was also so the children had a place to play.
“Due to this, people would call me and ask me how to deal with other service issues. From there, the previous chair of the Ward 36 Residents Association asked me to take over due to my previous experience. I took over in 2019. I wanted Durban North to get back to how it was – similar to the time when I grew up.”
Knight praised Shontel De Boer, an eThekwini councillor in Durban North, for assisting with direction and navigation.
“I have realised I was very fortunate and I want to assist people. The City has done a lot since my early days in assisting people. I praise the City for having alternate forms of improved communication like the app and WhatsApp groups.”
“The previous UIP did an amazing job with the Florida Road Precinct but I’m aiming to create a more pedestrian-friendly area which includes increased security and improved footprints by creating inclusivity. I want it to be a place where people insist on going just for a walkaround,” she adds.
Knight feels there’ll be security concerns due to the Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes case, but says the incident could have happened anywhere. She says security will be one of her main priorities.
“We have 20 monitors – 10 during the day and 10 during the night – registered UIP car guards. We also have Ensure Security that patrol regularly.”
Olive Tree Church Senior pastor Ross Rodger says they have been involved in city initiatives for the past 10 years, and have seen Knight’s great work and initiatives in Durban North.
The church invited her to their community so that she could empower them with her knowledge.
“With this 2024 initiative, our goal was to empower residents and communities with the knowledge on how to build an ecosystem/relationship between the eThekwini Municipality and the residents,” Rodger says.
“This can be done through engaging with the app, logging faults, engaging with the various departments.
“This is also about building relationships with those working in the City so that they enjoy working for you and you get the best out of them.
“We also aim to empower residents with knowledge on the accountability structures,” Rodger says.
Sunday Tribune