Dundee and Glencoe’s crumbling infrastructure and shocking neglect were laid bare during an eye-opening road trip led by newly-appointed Mayor Mcebo Mkhize, local municipal and Umzinathyi officials, police officers and the Endumeni Residents’ Association (ERA).
The day-long inspection tour, suggested by the ERA, gave Mayor Mkhize (a fresh face in office since late last year) a front-row seat to see the dire state of the towns.The tour kicked off in Beaconsfield Street, opposite Eventide Home, where a vacant plot has been taken over by dozens of squatters. The choking pollution on the vacant land and associated anti-social activities have raised the ire of neighbours and residents at Eventide.
Accompanied by police officers, officials waded through heaps of trash and makeshift shacks. Squatters admitted that they use the field as a toilet, highlighting the public health crisis.
Mkhize said the owner of the plot must be contacted and asked to clear the area, while Social Development must be called on to re-settle those living there.
“We cannot have people living in unhealthy conditions in our central business district.
“It is not a good reflection on our town and we need to do something,” he said.
FC Bester of the ERA said that the association has, over the past year, ‘received hundreds of calls from residents complaining about the Beaconsfield Street plot that has become a blot on what was once a beautiful town’.

The never-used multi-purpose centre in Forestdale was constructed in 2021, but has never been used…

Forestdale was also visited, where resident Queenie Thompson took the delegation to the multi-million rand multi-purpose centre and combo court that has never been used.
“Construction finished in 2021, but the centre has never been open to the public.
“We have never been told why.
“There is a tennis and netball court, but they are locked. We could use the hall for meetings and recreational activities, but it is just a white elephant,” Thompson said.

Municipal Manager Ntombela said he would ask for a full investigation into why the hall has not been officially handed over by the contractor to the municipality.

He pointed out defects in the walls and ceiling of the hall, and there is also a problem with the electrical and water connection.
The appalling condition of the roads in the Avon industrial area was also in the delegation’s cross-hairs.
A visit to Mohammed Ismail Road revealed a sand cartage operation using a public road, while the mayor was also concerned about an oil spillage that he feared may contaminate the already highly polluted Steenkoolspruit.
A row of exposed toilets in the informal Dlamini Village settlement adjacent to Sibongile also left the delegation puzzled.
There was no explanation as to why the toilets were not under a roof, although it is thought that the roof of what was a shelter may have been destroyed.
An investigation was promised.

Crumbling airstrip
The crumbling airstrip at the Dundee airfield was also visited, where stock herders were seen allowing cattle and goats to graze on the airfield.
“There is a huge tragedy brewing here, should a mercy flight have to land to airlift a critically ill patient – imagine the pilot having to dodge animals to land,” commented Willie Steenberg of the ERA.
Officials spoke to the herders in a bid to persuade them to ensure that their animals are kept away from the runway.
The broken fence, however, allows for easy access to the airfield.

The delegation was also taken to a trucking operation near Douglas and Argyle streets, where residents have complained of vehicles being repaired in an open plot which they claim is unsightly.
Trucks have also broken up a section of Douglas Street, where motorists have resorted to driving on the grass to avoid the ruts.
The mayor said his first 100 days in office will be ‘vigorously looking at the basics – potholes, streetlights and storm water drainage’.
“These are the three factors that impact on people’s lives the most.
“I have directed officials to ensure that they focus on this.”

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