Nellmapius residents revamp community park

Residents of ward 28 in Nellmapius came together last Friday to clean up a local community park that was in a poor state of disrepair from neglect.

The clean-up campaign came after residents of Nellmapius extension 4 realised that Hallelujah community park had slowly turned into an illegal dumpsite and hide-out for criminals.

The residents claimed that municipal workers were no longer taking care of the park like they used to.

Resident Tshepo Masemola said the community was up in arms about the state of the park during a meeting last Thursday.

He said the following day, the residents came in their numbers with their tools including brooms as early as 06:00 to clean the park and cut the overgrown grass until the afternoon.

He said the park is situated on the corner of Hallelujah street and Sterkte crescent.

“The park was fully functional and a haven for everyone until 2016 when Tshwane municipal workers stopped coming every day to look after it,” said Masemola.

He said instead the workers only picked up litter and slept there all day when they did come.

“The community park had overgrown grass that was becoming dangerous for everyone, dilapidated playground equipment that needed to be fixed because it was becoming dangerous to children using it,” said Masemola.

He said the irrigation system in half the park is no longer working so the community could not fold its arms and watch while “our park slowly turns into a dumpsite”.

“This was not a once-off clean-up campaign, the community park is taken care of almost every day by picking up the litter and watering it using buckets,” he said.

He said two residents, whose contracts with the City to look after the park had been terminated in 2016, were now volunteering to care for it again – watering it in the mornings and evenings.

“We were worried about the state of the park since it was supposed to be a safe place for the children to play.

Community parks are supposed to be a haven for children to play in and parents to bring their little ones,” he said.

The residents said they were worried about the state of parks in Nellmapius and Mamelodi because it seems like they are all abandoned.

“The parks have turned into hide-outs for drug addicts.”

The residents pleaded with the metro to come to fix the irrigation system at the park.

“Tshwane municipal workers need to stop delaying service delivery and revamp all community parks in the local townships.”

Masemola said the community also planted more than 30 trees before the clean-up and desperately needs donations to paint the playground equipment.

In Nellmapius, there are about eight community parks that desperately need to be taken care of.

Last year, a group of 12 Kasi Bouncers members, a Nellmapius extension 2 youth organisation, also took it upon themselves to revamp Small Park on Phedisana Street, which had also turned into a dump site.

They removed all the waste to bring the park back to its former glory and engaged with the community members to stop dumping litter there.

Kasi Bouncers’ Lesego “Mpitjana” Sibanyoni said they were concerned about the safety of children in the area.

“The park had overgrown grass and was no longer safe to use,” said Mpitjana.

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