Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo cannot tell Johannesburg residents how long it will take for a fallen tree to be removed.
In the latest quarterly report submitted to council by the entity charged with maintaining Johannesburg’s public open spaces‚ it stated that the service standard for a fallen tree to be removed is 10 hours.
However‚ the same entity could not explain to council whether that service standard is being maintained‚ or how quickly the city responded to fallen trees in the first quarter of the 2017/18 financial year.
“The system in place can only count the number of fallen trees‚ and not the turnaround times‚” the report said. “In the new financial year‚ budget dependent‚ a pilot project… will be commissioned to measure the turnaround times [needed] for the required standards.”
According to the report‚ Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo met its targets on pest control‚ hygiene and animal keeping. The total cost of employee remuneration during 2017/18 stood at just over R112-million. This amount includes executives and all other employees on the payroll.
A comparative analysis was conducted on the staff complement for the operations division‚ and it showed that the entity has lost 270 employees since the 2013/14 financial year. These terminations of employment were mainly due to retirements and deaths.
On employment equity‚ the company reported that it has 73% male employees‚ who dominate all occupational categories except senior management.
Revenue for the quarter was R22.9-million below budget.
Cemetery fees and admissions at the Johannesburg Zoo were also below budget‚ at R600‚000 and R100‚000 respectively.
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