Soil gets residents into heap of trouble
PARKVIEW residents involved in a community vegetable gardening project are reeling in shock after being fined R1 500 by Joburg metro police officers for leaving a heap of sand on the pavement temporarily over a weekend. Neighbours in Armagh Road got together to plant a community garden on the pavement last year.
Organiser Jenny Lenahan said: “As there are huge trees in the area, the logical sunny place was outside on the pavement. This also meant that people who live and work in the area could help themselves to the produce if they needed it. We got together and planted the garden with the whole community, including the children, and it flourished and was used by all.”
Unfortunately this year the garden did not have good yields, so they got an expert in to give them some advice.
“The advice was simple – the soil was full of clay and needed to be changed. We arranged for this to be done and by 6pm on Friday last week, it was done, and the new soil was in the boxes, with our crops of new veggies planted. We arranged for the soil to be removed on Tuesday morning,” she said. On Monday evening, however, at 7.30pm, her doorbell rang.
“They said they were Joburg Metro Police Department officers and they were there to issue us with a fine because we had soil on the pavement. At first I thought it was someone playing a joke, and was expecting a camera to emerge to say I had been tricked. But they were serious, and said we would have to pay a fine. I was shocked. They said that according to the city bylaws, we were not allowed to leave any soil on the pavement.
“This, despite the fact that it is for a community garden, and had only been there for one working day, and we had already arranged for it to be removed the following day. In very aggressive circumstances, I was issued the fine,” she said.
Lenahan said she was shocked to see there were four officers in a car at that time of night. “I presume that they were all being paid overtime. It all just seemed such a waste of resources when the city needs the JMPD to be doing much more important things. Many residents pile building rubble all over their pavements. What about illegal dumping in the city? Are these people all being fined R1 500? Or is it just in affluent areas?” she asked.
JMPD spokesman Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said his department received a complaint that the soil was obstructing the pavement, and that was why they acted.
“We are not saying the JMPD wants to be impossible, but if building rubble or soil or anything else obstructs pedestrian movement, it is an infringement of the by-laws and people will be fined,” he said.