Glenwood’s forgotten parks left to decay

THE Clean My City campaign, championed by eThekwini Mayor James Nxumalo has received a lot of media attention in recent weeks as city officials partner with relative stakeholders in an attempt to clean up the dirt and grime that tarnishes Durban’s tourism profile. Recently, the mayor paid a visit to Albert Park, better known as Whoonga Park because of the large numbers of vagrants and drug addicts who have made the park their home, and promised to clean it up and rehabilitate its destitute residents. Now, Glenwood residents are calling on authorities to pay similar attention to the other forgotten parks in the area that are in similar states of ruin.

In Umbilo, a resident said the once majestic Congella Park was in desperate need of rehabilitation. At least 50 vagrants gather in the park in the evenings and weekends, bathing in the park’s pond and carrying out all manner of illegal activities in full view of neighbouring residents and the public.

“My parents bought our family home next to Congella Park in 1947, and now we are being forced to sell after all these years,” she said, adding that they were constant victims of petty crime. “A man threw a brick through our window recently to check out the state of security on our property and we have had our copper pipes stolen. Metro Police said the issue of vagrants in the park was a social problem, similar to the one they are experiencing in Albert Park, and they cannot police this. They need to come up with a solution to help these people,” she said.

The woman recalled earlier years saying Congella Park had been a beautiful place where children played and rode their bikes, where picnics were held and wedding photos taken every weekend. “On the top section adjacent to Umbilo Road there used to be swings, a see-saw and roundabout for the children which are all gone, and park benches were dotted about on both levels of the park.”

“The park is disgusting. There is an unbelievable stench as the vagrants burn copper cable and wash their clothes and bathe in the ponds, sometimes totally naked. The pond used to be beautiful, now it is dried up in places. There is a muddy road that goes g through the park and there evidence of serious erosion on the bank on the Hannah Road side. It is such a pity,” she said.

Marie Hadden, posting on the Berea Mail website, said Freedom Park in Umbilo was another of city’s forgotten and neglected parks.

“I wish the police would look at the park. There seems to be an influx of vagrants living in the broken down building by the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial. They are an eyesore and bring an unsavoury element to an already plagued area,” she wrote.

The community group, Save Our Berea also alerted Berea Mail the vagrants living in Merrick Bennett Park in Cato Road.

According to Save Our Berea’s Cheryl Johnson, vagrants have been spotted making fires and leaving them unattended. The park lies adjacent to one of the area’s largest hospitals and dangerously close to residential properties. She said the unattended fires posed a serious danger.

“There have been several articles about vagrants living in this park in violation of the municipal by laws. It was brought to the attention of the authorities months ago, yet vagrants appear to be living there still, and lighting fires,” she said.

She said Deputy Head of Metro Police, Steve Middleton had been asked to investigate the lighting of fires by vagrants in the park.

“We urge Metro Police to enforce the by-laws and we request they share a report of what actions they have taken so that residents on the Berea are kept informed,” she said.

What they said:

Cheryl Johnson said Save Our Berea believed that parks were a true reflection of the quality of life in a community.

“Parks and recreation services are often cited as one of the most important factors in surveys of how livable communities are. They provide gathering places for families and social groups, as well as for individuals of all ages and economic status. Access to parks and recreation opportunities has been strongly linked to reductions in crime, so it is deeply disturbing that many of our parks on the Berea have become places of refuge for drug dealers, vagrants and criminals,” she said.

Metro Police’s Morgan Subramoney said metro police continued to take action in displacing the vagrants, but they kept returning. “A joint operation with SAPS Umbilo is scheduled and we hope to make arrests for offences in terms of the general bylaws and process these people through the court. Thereafter we will reassess our strategy,” he said.

Ward Councillor Nicole Graham agreed with residents’ sentiments that parks in the area were in a sorry state and felt that even with the presence of security guards, it would make little difference. “There needs to be better policing. The condition of open spaces is a problem which is not going to go away. I feel goverment should consider selling some of these spaces for development,” she said.