Elderly local fed up with deteriorating street
The 73-year-old says it's the worst he's seen in 20 years.
Johan Kruger, a resident of Daspoort on Malie Street for over 20 years, says that he has never seen his neighbourhood in such a poor state.
He blames a lack of service delivery for that, insisting that despite numerous attempts at reaching out, his area and the entire ward have not been considered.
“We pay our rates and taxes all the time, but we never see services,” Kruger said.
Referring to his street, he describes a culture of lawlessness that has overtaken the area.
Across his home, long stretches of land serve as cover for vagrants in the tall grass to do drugs, go to the bathroom and sleep, while recyclers burn their goods and taxis speed through the pothole-ridden street through illegal openings connecting to Van Der Hoff Road.
The vandalised road barriers now serve as an opening for any motorists to enter, and alongside the potholes, Kruger said congestion and accidents are no rare occurrence.
“Here, you have to go slow, otherwise you can miss this stuff. I sometimes wonder if there’s even a road anymore. They don’t fix anything, there is no service at all, and the whole area is bad.
They haven’t cut the grass in 20 years. I’ve been cutting the grass across from my place, but it’s Tshwane’s job to do it,” Kruger said.
Kruger and fellow neighbours use their tools to cut the grass in the stretch of land near their homes, where they also had to chase away a vagrant trying to set up a shack in recent weeks.
He said that he and his fellow community members will be escalating their fight to the national level soon.
The problems are not limited to just his street or even neighbourhood, but the whole ward. The 73-year-old also had some choice words for Ward 1 Councillor Leon Kruyshaar, describing him as being “all talk”.
Kruyshaar, however, maintained that he is simply doing his best in a “dysfunctionally-led” municipality, and that these kinds of issues are common throughout the ward.
“Some people don’t have any idea of what we are going through as councillors, especially when we have a dysfunctional municipality. Yesterday, the yellow plant equipment was taken from Tshwane due to a lack of payment and no signed agreement in place. All departments have lost the tools of their trade because of the way Tshwane is being run,” Kruyshaar said.
“The department responsible for cutting the sidewalks has had their brush cutters taken back, and tractors. This means no grass will be cut in the ward. The machines like ‘stampers’, compactors and rollers used to fix potholes had to go back. Also, the supply of tar has been limited, but without machines, we won’t see any potholes repaired,” he explained.
“We are also experiencing issues with pumps at the Water and Sanitation Department. When a pipe bursts, they dig a hole, and the hole fills up with water, which needs to be pumped out.”
Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo blames the deteriorating roads on heavy rainfall.
“The condition of the street has deteriorated due to the recent heavy rainfalls. Potholes were safeguarded previously; however, due to the recent heavy rains, the condition of the road has further deteriorated,” Mashigo said.
Mashigo added that the city was not aware of the illegal road opening, but said the matter will be escalated.
“The city is not aware of the said illegal roads connecting to Van Der Hoff Road. The matter will be escalated to the Tshwane Metro Police Department for law enforcement,” Mashigo said.
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