Residents of Pretoria North have lost confidence in the City of Tshwane, describing their area as dirty and dangerous. Piles of garbage cover street corners and some roads have potholes that cause motorists to swerve into traffic to avoid large potholes. Drugs Water explosions in Wolmer Park are also not new to the residents. Dorandia resident Chantelle Botha said she doubted council workers would rush to fix the burst pipe. He said another problem in the area is drugs. “I don’t even take my children to this park. It’s not safe here. He buys drugs around…
Residents of Pretoria North have lost confidence in the City of Tshwane, describing their area as dirty and dangerous.
Piles of rubbish cover the corners of the road and some roads have potholes causing motorists to swerve into traffic to avoid the large potholes.
Medicines
Bursting water in Taman Wolmer is also not new to the residents. Dorandia resident Chantelle Botha said she doubted council workers would rush to fix the burst pipe.
He said another problem in the area is drugs. “I don’t even take my children to this park. It’s not safe here.
They buy drugs on the corner and use them here. Botha said he found drug needles and empty drug packets scattered in the park
“There are many illegal dumpsters here. We don’t feel safe or proud of this area,” he said. Francois Taljaard, who lives on the streets, said he came to the park to collect screws and tools to sell for food.
“I lost my job half a year ago. Everywhere I go I clean to collect money to buy bread and cold drinks,” he said.
“Crime is also high here. This place is going backwards; Look at how the garbage is collected,” he said. Terence Long, Showen Fox and Uvian van der Coff were out to clear the corner of Jopie Fourie and President Steyn Streets.
Human waste
They say the worst thing they clean is human excrement. The trio started cleaning the streets of Pretoria North a year ago when local estate agent, Quentin Meyer, started the #Onssalself campaign to clean the area with the support of the local branch of AfriForum.
“It’s not good to take other people, but it’s good to see the area clean,” he said. Meyer reached out to local businesses to donate to the cause and employed four cleaners who worked from Monday to Friday.
“They clean parks and streets, cut grass and pick up trash,” he said. Meyer said the trio cleaned and collected 800 black bags of trash in January.
Also read: The area in Pretoria North has no water
Homeless people
He said homeless people in the area contribute to the filth on the streets. “They drop trash cans on the sidewalk to find food and leave trash like that,” he said.
Meyer said rubbish was left on the main road for weeks before council workers came to collect it. Regional Parliamentarian Yolanda Duvenage declined to comment on complaints of potholes or uncollected trash.
However, he thanked the AfriForum North of the Mountain branch for supporting the #Onssalself campaign. City of Tshwane spokesperson Sipho Stuurman said they empty the bins every day. Stuurman said the council will address the issue, which is illegal dumping.
READ MORE: North Pretoria residents clear area after City fails with service delivery
– marizkac@citizen.co.za