Good Samaritan advocates for goodwill

Vanessa Berriman is a strong believer that if you want something done, do it yourself.

She has taken it upon herself to upkeep her neighbourhood after having waited more than a year for trenches to be filled after being left open.

The mother of two from Meyersdal with the help of residents and local businesses closed up deep fibre trenches at Hennie Alberts Street and Hart Avenue.

This commitment was prompted by a need to keep pedestrians safe. The public space was also seen as an eyesore.

According to Vanessa, in 2019 they dug fibre trenches. She made contact with the then councillor Alderman Bruna Haipel to find out how best they could get this problem fixed.

“We made numerous calls to Council. Ward 106 Clr Tim Denny also came on board and he held meetings with Council. It was quite a danger because people were walking on the road instead of using the pavement. You could have had animals falling into the trenches, they were quite deep,” said Vanessa.

After numerous efforts, she then approached companies in the community to assist in filling up these trenches. They managed to create temporal employment for about 15 job seekers.

“A huge thank you to Abraxas Financial Services and Brakenwest Hardware and Hire. The residents of Meyersdal Ridge Estate who raised funds to pay for the paving costs were also wonderful.

“A shout out to the Gouveia family from Meyersdal Ridge Estate who paid three men that stand by our traffic lights to clean up the grass that had covered the paving where people are supposed to walk,” she said.

She reiterated that if it weren’t for these donors who came on board, the trenches would still be there.

“We will soon start putting the paving back in hopefully by end of this week. We were starting to have trees growing out of these holes and people were also throwing rubble into these trenches. If we want an area that looks good, we all have to stand together and just do it ourselves. I want my area looking like it did and people to be safe,” said Vanessa.

Denny said for the past three years, various departments have passed the buck.

“Each one says it is the other’s responsibility. A contractor was appointed to dig the trenches for fibre but did not only complete the job but left the trenches when there was a dispute over the contract. I have been trying for the last five months as the new councillor to get any department to take ownership, but to no avail,” he said.

“When a good Samaritan in the community asked if she and her husband could arrange the trenches get closed due to the risk of children and people getting hurt, my answer was ‘thank you for volunteering, I cannot stop you’.”