A video shot by former Protea cricketer and real estate businessman Pat Symcox highlighting the sorry state of Hibberdene is circulating on Facebook and has attracted the attention of the Democratic Alliance (DA).

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Taken by Mr Symcox on Monday morning this week, the video shows uncut verges and refuse bags piled up in the middle of town’s CBD, with some bags spilling into the road.
The video has so far garnered 32 000 views and 711 shares.

The Herald received a letter from Dr Rishigen Viranna, MPL of the DA in response to the video.

“We are shocked that some of Mr Symcox’s stature would post such allegations without having all the facts. It is understood that Mr Symcox is not a resident of Hibberdene, thus his ignorance of municipal services in that area.”
The Herald contacted Mr Symcox  for his response. “I’m not political…this is about service delivery”, he said, and stressed that although he is not a resident he has had an office in Hibberdene for the past decade.

“I am chairman of the Hibberdene Business Forum and have sat on the tourism committee for the last five years, so please tell me that I don’t know what’s going on.”

According to the DA, these were some of the facts:
1 Monday, Wednesday and Friday are refuse collection days for the Hibberdene area. Thus refuse bags were not dumped along the road in the CBD, rather they were placed next to municipal bins for the refuse truck to collect. Cllr Noah Cele, the Ward 13 councillor, has ensured that all refuse bags were collected.

2 In addition to refuse bags from residents, there was also refuse from the municipal cleaners organised by Cllr Cele to clean the Hibberdene beachfront and CBD.
3 The verges of the R102 are the responsibility of KZN Department of Transport. However due to their delays in cutting the verges, all DA councillors voted in favour of RNM cutting these verges. This was done in December 2018. With the current rains, it is understandable that the grass has grown.

Mr Symcox’s response:
“The refuse dumped in the middle of the CBD is put out every single day – not Monday, Wednesday or Friday – resulting in the town looking untidy and unattractive to visitors or potential investors.
“I’m not talking about the R102, I’m talking about all the verges throughout the town. How would anyone want to invest in Hibberdene when they are met with this mess?”
Before season, Mr Symcox drove RNM’s municipal manager, Max Mbili around and showed him the appalling state of the seaside town.  True to his word, Mr Mbili deployed a team to break down the old ablution block on the main road and do a general clean-up.  Mr Symcox said this only happened because individuals, like himself, had contacted Mr Mbili, and not because the councillor had phoned, or because meetings were held with the business people to discuss how to improve the town.

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He added he had lived on the coast for 25 years and had played an active role in the community, even cutting the verges himself from time to time in an effort to improve the town.

“Overall the South Coast, for me, is in trouble. It is largely made up of small businesses, so anything – litter, long grass and broken signage – that detracts from bringing holidaymakers and investors here takes its toll.

“I am very positive about the South Coast and I believe it offers great value and opportunity for families, but we need to continue to drive the process and make it more attractive so we can compete with other parts of the country.” 

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