Birch Acres Park neglect fuels crime and fear

Residents of Birch Acres Ext 6 fear for their safety as Park 2030 has become a hotspot for crime, with overgrown grass and a lack of maintenance making it a hideout for criminals.

Despite numerous reports to the municipality, the park remains largely untouched, forcing residents to take matters into their own hands.

The community, together with Ward 13 Clr Bulelwa Ngqwangi, has repeatedly reported the state of the park, located behind the playground on Geranium Road and Meebos Street.

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While residents have managed to clean the playground themselves, the park behind it remains inaccessible due to the knee-high grass.

Ngqwangi confirmed that the issue was reported to the municipality but said delays are due to logistical challenges.

“I’ve reported all the parks in Ward 13 for grass cutting and tree pruning,” she said.

“The department has a challenge with vehicles, which is causing delays. They have started with the cutting, but the community closed the park gate as a safety precaution. I continue to follow up in service delivery meetings.”

Residents argue that while the municipality occasionally visits the park, they only clean bins and take photos, leaving the overgrown park untouched.

The cost of hiring people to cut the grass is too high for residents, yet some still attempt it to protect their families.

Community member Russel Willoughby said he visited the municipal offices, where he learned that the tractors and vehicles meant to service parks had expired licences.

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“They came in December, emptied the bins, took photos of the playground to claim it was cleaned, but we, the residents, had done all the cleaning,” he said.

The poorly maintained park has had real consequences. A resident was shot in the area in December, and there was another robbery a few months ago.

Despite multiple reports, the City of Ekurhuleni has reportedly closed the case or marked it as “completed” without actually clearing the park. Residents feel neglected and frustrated, especially as they continue to pay rates and taxes while seeing no return in services.

Adding to the confusion, residents say the two tractors that visited were for sports facilities, not parks.

The drivers claimed they were unaware the area behind the playground was also designated as a park.

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Access is also a concern. There is no proper vehicle gate to the rear of the park, and the last time municipal workers accessed the space, they had to remove part of the fence.

Residents say this issue has been reported but not addressed.

According to Willoughby, after the last visit, only partial cutting was done, and bush cutters were never sent to finish the job. In an emergency, vehicles would again have to break through the fence to reach the park.

The community hasn’t stopped at cleaning the playground.

Residents have installed lights themselves to improve security after repeated reports of faulty streetlights went unanswered. They are also grappling with unresolved potholes in the area.

Kempton Express contacted the City of Ekurhuleni on May 7 for comment and gave them until May 12 to respond.
By the time of publication, no response had been received.