Uncollected rubbish festering in heat
COMPLAINTS of overgrown grass on verges and in public parks have poured in from across the city despite the municipality’s claims that it adheres to a regular maintenance schedule.
While the summer rains generally caused vegetation to grow quicker, residents said the grass cutters had not kept pace in their neighbourhoods.
Newlands East resident Anita Solomons told City Watch that the grass in her area had not been cut since last August and repeated attempts for answers from the ethekwini Municipality were unsuccessful.
“We are having the same problem every year in this area and no one seems to be taking care of it.
“We have to beg and are being sent from pillar to post. Our kids are in danger because they have to walk in bush. The parks, play areas and other open public spaces are messy,” she said.
Solomons said even some parts of the roads in Newlands East had become a danger zone to motorists.
Her views were echoed by umhlanga motorist Johan Brockie who questioned when the cutting of grass along the M4 highway would resume.
Brockie said in some parts the grass and trees had grown to a point where motorists could not cross the yellow line.
Similar complaints about the highway have been made by other motorists for more than a year.
In 2017, ethekwini Municipality said it was in the process of taking over grass-cutting of all major routes within the metro from the provincial department of transport to ensure that it was done on a regular basis.
However, that agreement was not finalised.
Recently, Phoenix resident Philip Naidoo said a municipal official had promised him that cutting in his area would be undertaken every two weeks.
However, he said to date verges close to his home were still overgrown.
Last week, the municipality issued a grass-cutting programme to the public for the current financial year. According to the programme, all the parks, verges and municipal land open to the public should have been cut regularly from last October and continued until May this year when the rainy season ended.
When City Watch questioned why it appeared as if verges and parks were not maintained, the municipality responded by resending the schedule to the Sunday Tribune.
Bluff Ward councillor JP Prinsloo from the DA, who was also a Community Services Committee member, said there were numerous times when the grass in his ward was not cut.
He said he had raised his concerns with officials and in full council meetings since 2017 to highlight that the Parks Department had increasingly moved away from its core mandate of delivering basic services to communities.
“Verge cutting, weed spraying and maintenance of our parks and open spaces have become an afterthought for this department which is evident in the declining services being delivered to our communities.
“Increasingly, we have seen verges growing to unacceptable heights, weeds growing across our roads and parks being unusable for our children to play in,” said Prinsloo.
Apart from the grass-cutting schedule sent to the Sunday Tribune, the city failed to respond to any other questions about the matter. WASTE collection has again been disrupted in umlazi, south of Durban, leaving residents fuming over what they said had become the norm.
A dispute allegedly over payment saw contractors down tools on Wednesday, leaving piles of rubbish festering in the heat.
Spokesperson for ethekwini Municipality Msawakhe Mayisela said the dispute was sparked by “circumstances beyond the city and the contractor’s control”. He refused to elaborate.
Disgruntled contractor Nathi Mnyandu said they were not paid for the work done in December and were not given any explanation.
He said on Thursday the contractors went to City Hall to meet the city manager but things turned violent when metro police officers were called in to prevent them from entering the building.
The city later said it would make alternative plans for collections.
However, Mnyandu said they would not allow this to happen. “Services will only resume once we get our money,” he said.
Irate resident Mondli Zakwe, the owner of several rooms which he rents out in A section, said they were victims of “corruption and maladministration” within the municipality while they were still expected to pay rates.
In a brief statement released this week, the municipality urged residents to keep their refuse on their premises. It said it was negotiating with the contractors to find a solution.
“As a temporary measure, ethekwini has since mobilised its internal resources to collect refuse that is already on the streets,” Mayisela said.