CoE allocates R10m for green space maintenance

“Very soon, the grass-cutting tender will be advertised.”

April 3, 2024

Lebohang Pita and Siphokuhle Mpanza 2 minutes read

Phakamile Mbengashe is the HoD of the CoE’s Department of Environmental Resources and Waste Management.

The acting head of the Department of Environmental Resources and Waste Management, Phakamile Mbengashe, revealed that the CoE has allocated R10m to the parks division to maintain the public green spaces, including parks and cemeteries.

Mbengashe said this during the Old Boksburg Cemetery site visit on March 27 to provide an update on the city’s measures to end the grass-cutting and waste management backlogs.

The visit followed a Boksburg Advertiser report in February about a public outcry over the parks division’s failure to maintain green areas and landfill sites.

Equipment

According to Mbengashe, the funds will be used for grass-cutting, maintaining parks and buying new equipment.
“Some of our equipment is old and no longer functioning. We want our depots fully equipped so our employees can go out and work to keep the city clean,” said Mbengashe.

The CoE will cut the grass in cemeteries so families can easily find their loved one’s graves.

He said the equipment that’s reached its lifespan will go on auction, and the proceeds to the funds for new equipment.

Contractors

Asked about the issues with contractors after the grass-cutting contract expired last year, Mbengashe said the grass-cutting tender will soon be advertised.

“The contract expired last year. In November, we set up a task team to fast-track and turn around the department. Very soon, the grass-cutting tender will be advertised. We’ll wait for the supply chain to award the contract. Once done, we’ll amplify our grass-cutting efforts.”

Grass-cutting

He said maintaining green spaces will continue while they wait for the new contractor, adding that their employees have already started the work after MMC Leshaka Manamela ordered the grass be cut in parks and cemeteries for the Easter weekend.

The grass inside the old Boksburg Cemetery has been cut.

He agreed the MMC’s directive seemed convenient because families often visit graveyards to clean them over the Easter period. He said the main reason for the Manamela’s order was for families to be able to locate their loved one’s gravesites.

“Grass-cutting happens throughout the year. But because of the backlog, the MMC reiterated that it must be cut by Easter. We don’t want our residents to come to a cemetery and not locate their loved one’s gravesite,” said Mbengashe.

Mbengashe acknowledged the department’s shortfalls but said they are turning things around and that the grass-cutting will continue beyond Easter.

Landfill sites

He said the maintenance issues at the Platkop and Weltervreden Waste Disposal Sites were due to contractual issues, but he is confident they will be operational this month.

The CoE will continue to maintain the old Boksburg Cemetery beyond Easter.

“We’ve appointed two new contractors to maintain Platkop and Weltervreden. The contract process is almost complete. We are confident that by mid-April, we’ll have them operational.”

He said the city has three operational sites, but they were not working at capacity, adding that the Rietfontein Landfill site will reopen once the service-level agreement is signed.

“We’ve engaged the community and are happy to have it reopened. People were starting to dump outside. We’ve stockpiled the waste, and once it has reopened, we will move it inside.”

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