• Anonymous writes:

I write this letter to you with a very heavy heart.

During the first week of December someone in Otto Street complained about the tree on the pavement in front of my house. Some of the new branches were hanging in the street obstructing half of the road. They requested the councillor to ask Mogale City Local Municipality (MCLM) to trim the tree. They were very specific not to cut down the whole tree as was done on the corner of 5th and Otto. I was in bed with Covid-19 and after a week the branches were still in the road. I then cut the branches myself and removed them. All was fine again.

Yesterday (Monday January 10), more than a month later MCLM finally showed up with a cherry picker and about 15 workers. Please see photo 1 and see how they mutilated the tree, after it was no longer necessary. This is not the first time it has happened.

Please see photo 2 of the mess they left behind. Are they not supposed to clean up the city, instead of making it worse? Mr Mayor, do you expect me to clean up this mess when I pay for City cleaning? There are rumours going around that they are ‘trimming’ the trees in this manner so that they can sell the wood on the street.

The tree is just the tip of the iceberg …

Why doesn’t MCLM rather use their cherry picker to fix the many dead street lights?

Why doesn’t MCLM rather cut the grass in front of a business on Blommestein Street (photo 4)? Why doesn’t MCLM rather find out who keeps on putting rubbish bags on the corner of 4th and Blommestein? Or maybe put a permanent rubbish bin on the corner?

Otto Street residents submitted a petition to request speed bumps as the cars all take a shortcut from 5th to 4th Street via Otto Street. It has become dangerous as the people race on the street. This will just get worse once the new taxi rank is completed. Why does Blommestein Street get bumps but not Otto Street? Please give a status update on this request.

The speed bumps bring me to the crux of this email.

MCLM installed the speed bumps in Blommestein Street without putting up any warning signs or paint on the bumps. That night a motorcyclist rode down Blommestein Street unknowing of the new unmarked speed bumps. He crashed into a tree and died. MCLM was to blame and paid out millions of taxpayers money to the deceased family.

Mr Mayor, I want you to think a bit … What if that person was one of your loved ones?

Would the money bring back your loved one, would the money take away your sorrow? Think about it long and hard. Your job is not only to clean Krugersdorp … it is also your responsibility to keep the residents of Krugersdorp safe.

Krugersdorp is already known as Devilsdorp. Is this the legacy you want to leave when MCLM is one of the killers as well? Everyone is saying that corruption in South Africa is so bad.

To me there is something even worse … incompetence, gross negligence and unaccountability of our municipalities.

Many government employees just show up at work to collect a salary, whether they do their jobs or not. They get away with it because their superiors simply don’t care.

Things need to change Mr Mayor. I urge you to take some time and actually drive through the streets of Krugersdorp and see what it looks like – also at night to see how dark certain areas are.

Think about it again; that person who died because of the incompetence and negligence of MCLM could have been one of your loved ones. Do not forget that, do not let his death be in vain. I hope that measures have been put in place to prevent another death like his.

Mr Mayor, please show Krugersdorp that MCLM can in fact do more good than harm. This starts with you. If people need to be fired because they do not do their jobs, then let it happen until people start to take their jobs seriously.

Thank you for your time.

The News has reached out to the communications department at MCLM on January 12. Refilwe Mahlangu acknowledged the email but we are still awaiting their response — Ed.