Lakeside resident, Miracle Louw, suspects that he comes across as a pest to the staff at Quantum Leap, and to his ward councillor, every time he asks for the grass to be cut in an open field near his house.
While the municipal appointed grass-cutting service may see Mr Louw’s request as just another chore, to Mr Louw it means having a safe place in his neighbourhood to cultivate the kinds of memories that make childhood special.
In the absence of a proper park in Lakeside, and due to the lack of any open spaces for recreational activities, Mr Louw has taken it upon himself to clear out an area, which he has demarcated using tyres, regularly removing the litter and cutting the grass, so the children in his area have a safe place to play off the streets.
“I have been a resident of Lakeside ever since it was established and I realise that members of the community can’t expect to get anything done by just complaining all the time. We need to do something for ourselves. We just need the municipality to assist every now and then,” said Mr Louw.
“Since I decided to ‘adopt’ that plot of land more than two years ago, I have been borrowing a lawnmower to keep the grass short, I have put tyres around it and a temporary fence on one side, and sometimes I even hire a jumping castle or make hotdogs to treat the children in the community. The municipality knows about it and they even gave me bins and ‘Do Not Litter’ signage to put up.”
Mr Louw explained that the rainfall in December and January resulted in the grass growing quite high, too high to risk using a borrowed lawnmower to cut.
“I have been asking Quantum Leap to assist me with this since early February and they keep saying they will come, but nothing happens. I have also spoken to my ward councillor but he always seems too busy to help,” he complained.
Ward councillor for Lakeside, Bheka Mtshali, said he had explained to Mr Louw that he needed to apply to the municipality to officially ‘adopt ‘ a piece of land.
“I asked him to complete the application and take it to the municipality, and to give me a copy of the application along with proof of receipt so that I could follow up with the relevant official in order to give Mr Louw feedback, but this has not happened. Once the application is forwarded, it is at the municipality’s discretion to grant approval or not, depending on environmental factors and whether anybody else has applied for the same land,” said Mr Mtshali.
However, Mr Louw insists that he had dropped off the completed form at the municipal offices.
Asked if he felt that Lakeside offered adequate safe spaces for children to play in, Mr Mtshali responded, “Lakeside did have a very nice park, but when the new extension to Lakeside was built, residents started to drive through the park in order to access the other side of Lakeside easily. Now the park is completely run down and dilapidated.”
Mr Mtshali added that the municipality had been in touch with the Department of Sports and Recreation, and with the Department of Art and Culture, for assistance to rehabilitate the park. However, with the priority for the ward being water, electricity and roads, there hasn’t been any money allocated in the budget to the rehabilitation of parks in Lakeside.
“Perhaps in the next financial budget,” concluded Mr Mtshali.
Attempts to contact Quantum Leap for comment proved fruitless.
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