Community works together to clean vlei in West Acres
A small team of community members started cleaning up the area two weeks ago.
West Acres community members spent their entire morning tackling the wildly overgrown vlei bordering Koraalboom and Geelhout avenues on Saturday, June 25.
A local of over 40 years, Anne Lombard, gathered a small team to start cleaning up the bushy area that had started growing over into the road, also hiding potential muggers from passers-by.
Lombard said there had been several incidents over the past few months where women had been mugged or were almost dragged into the bushes while trying to walk home.
“It was just a few weeks ago I heard a woman screaming and it turned out someone had jumped out of that bush and stolen her bag.”
ALSO READ: Full marks for educator vaccine administration
Lombard said it was also a major eyesore and could not be used as a recreational area as it once had been years ago.
ALSO READ: Charity drives aid the KaBokweni community
She said City of Mbombela had sent workers to clear the area recently, but not much was cleared or cut away, and litter had been gone over with a mower and left like that.
However, the work accomplished by community members on Saturday morning has already made a massive difference to the area’s aesthetics.
ALSO READ: The Lydenburg Heads: A famous find
“I am amazed at how many people came out to help. I didn’t expect the turnout we had,” said Lombard.
“We cleared 37 bin bags of rubbish. We started the clean-up at 07:30 and finished up at 11:30. There is still lots to do, but we accomplished quite a bit.”
Lombard thanked Richard Ward of Cartime, Dawie Greef of Flotek, Bradley Neil of Comir and Quentin Hamel of Q&H Maintenance and Steelworks.
She added there had also been donations of money, black bags and tools from residents in the area. She said they would be organising another clean-up soon.
City of Mbombela’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said parks are checked on a regular basis by the supervisors to determine when they require maintenance, and all developed parks are maintained on a schedule.
ALSO READ: From death sprouts the seed of life
“This park was scheduled to be cut last Thursday and this was done. The bush clearing is done as per request of the residents and has been attended to in the past.”
Ngala added that any dangers regarding the parks can be reported to the law enforcement section of Mbombela on the emergency number, 013 753 3331, or the call centre on 013 759 9301/2/3/5-8, especially regarding people sleeping in the bush.
ALSO READ: Mpumalanga Parliamentary Village project halted again
