East forum tackles eyesore in Moreleta Park
The CCF beautified and cleaned up the area in front of the “White House” property where the informal settlement dwellers used to illegally draw water, cause land pollution as well as do their laundry.
The Pretoria East Community Care Forum (CCF) embarked on a clean-up of Brabham Street in Moreleta Park next to the “white house” property the Plastic View informal settlement dwellers had turned into a laundry bay.
This has further created other challenges such as environmental degradation, according to the forum.
The clean-up follows the Tshwane metro having removed the fire hydrant, which had been hijacked by the alleged dwellers.
Recently, the CCF beautified and cleaned up the eyesore area in front of the “White House” where the informal settlement dwellers used to draw water illegally.
For years the dwellers of Plastic View have resorted to the unauthorised use of the fire hydrant in their quest for water, which angered local ratepayers.
The founding director of the CCF, Deirdre van Helsdingen, said the dwellers who illegally used the fire hydrant have angered Meadow Glen Estate residents and the owners of the property in question over the years.
“This practice by the Plastic View residents persisted for years even after the metro warned against the public use of fire hydrants, saying only its engineers were permitted to use them.”
The “White House” owners have been on Tshwane metro’s case, threatening to build a wall to safeguard and secure the area.
Van Helsdingen said the water point had lured the dwellers from Plastic View to the area to do their laundry which further contaminated the Moreleta Spruit.
She said the heavy machinery cleared the area, pushed away rocks and removed the mud.
Van Helsdingen said the teams also cut the overgrown grass.
“The illegal water connection at the White House was disconnected on December 11, 2024. We have now rehabilitated the ground surrounding this point and we look forward to beautifying this area more.”
According to municipal by-laws, no one is allowed to interfere with the provision of water supply services.
Further stating that should anyone be caught using the hydrants without the metro’s permission, they would be issued with a notice of contravention of the municipality’s by-laws.
The metro said if the offence continues, a fine not exceeding R20 000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months will be imposed.
A fire hydrant is used for extinguishing fires. The city, in response to Section 27 of the Constitution of South Africa, declared some of the fire hydrants as points to draw rudimentary water from to provide to informal settlements.
Also read: Tshwane commits to 5-year plan to address Cemetery and Plastic View informal settlements
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok.
