Overgrown public works plot irks residents
Summerstrand residents are fed up with picking up the slack for the Eastern Cape department of public works, which has failed to maintain a vacant plot in the area, leaving it to become an eyesore.
Resident Rob Wylde, a former Ward 1 councillor, said the department, which owns the 3.5ha plot, last maintained it about two years ago and the grass was now almost 2m high.
Wylde said residents and a local sports club had initially contributed towards the cost of cleaning the plot and cutting the grass, but had grown tired of doing so and nagging the department to do its job.
“A concern is the neglect could attract rats and snakes, and, with a preschool across the road, this does not bode well for the safety of the children.”
Wylde said he took it upon himself to organise the cleanup campaign after being told the department had run out of funds.
“That was two years ago. Every year they get a new budget and I do not understand why they cannot at least cut it once a month,” he said.
“Everyone is tired of sponsoring [the department] to clean the area when it is their responsibility.
“The last time it was cleared they hired an SMME that used weed-eaters and grass cutters, which was hardly sufficient,” he said.
At the the plot, situated between Beyers, Weyers and Erasmus streets, yesterday, it was clear people were dumping food items, paper and plastic there.
Sherwin van Staden, 24, a student who cuts across the plot to get to a shuttle, said he avoided walking there at night.
“It is dangerous to walk here.
“You would not see anyone taking cover at night.
“A few months ago, someone was robbed at gunpoint close to the taxi stop nearby.”
Chuma Dunjana, 23, who stays down the road from the plot, said it was making the area untidy.
“The grass is more than a metre high.
“It is unpleasant because, at the end of the day, people pay their rates here,” he said.
Public works spokesperson Sipokazi Ncanywa did not respond to questions by the time of publication.