A concerned reader recently contacted the News regarding a large old tree next to Chamdor Road he often drove past.
Being one of the busier roads in Krugersdorp he explained that he was worried the tree might fall over one day and seriously injure a motorist – or worse.
The tree in question was damaged by fire at some point. The trunk was mostly hollowed out and charred, leaving not much to support the large branches.
One of the larger branches that overhangs Chamdor Road seems withered, brittle and is barely hanging on.
Adrian Amod of Mogale City Local Municipality (MCLM) Corporate Communication’s responded to the News’ enquiry about the tree. “After engaging my colleague in Parks and assessing the veracity of what has been sent as a media enquiry, kindly note that this is a municipal service issue which should be dealt with accordingly, i.e. reported and/ or escalated as urgent to colleagues in our Integrated Environmental Management Section (Parks Management) as follows: Patricia Tshitema at Patricia.Tshitema@mogalecity.gov.za and Keneilwe Sesiko at keneilwe.sesiko@mogalecity.gov.za. Once received our Parks section will send out someone to urgently investigate and determine an appropriate response to avert any potential dangers.
“To conclude, since this is a life-threatening matter as the tree poses a danger to motorists and other road users, it should have been urgently reported to the municipality. We trust that the News will inform complainants to follow the required processes as dealing with such municipal services in the media instead of following proper channels is inappropriate.”
It should be noted that the News always follows the standard protocol by asking concerned residents whether they have reported a matter to the municipality and, if they have not, they are advised to do so. The complainant did, though, explained that he had been experiencing difficulty when he tried to call the municipality. Whether he was able to report the issue thereafter is not known, but in its enquiry to the MCLM the News had sent the exact GPS location of the tree along with recent photos.
The issue is also newsworthy as it poses a clear and present danger to residents of Mogale City.
