A fenced off eye sore

The War Memorial in Second Street, Springs CBD, is still prone to vandalism and litter, despite the erection of a new mesh fence around the site.

Little work has been done at the memorial, despite the launch of the Springs Acupuncture Project, which was supposed to curb and rejuvenate many prominent places in the Springs CBD.

Councillor Dean Stone, ward 75 councillor, visited the War Memorial recently with Andrew Ramugondo of the Benoni museum and Fhatuwani Rambau, Ekurhuleni metro’s Department of Arts and Culture’s heritage officer.

The memorial has seen better days and, says Stone, the main problem is the litter, which is left behind by people who regularly visit the memorial’s garden, litter scavengers who use the site to sort out litter for recycling and the vagrants sleeping at the memorial each night.

The memorial has had its fair share of vandalism, as any metal that has some sort of monetary value has been stolen to sell for scrap metal.

Ramugondo and Rambau were shocked at the state of the memorial and the fact that people using the park did not seem phased by the litter around them or the urine smell wafting from the domed memorial.

They were also surprised by the lack of maintenance done by the Springs parks department, which was evident as the flowerbeds had clearly not enjoyed any attention in recent months.

Stone and the two officials discussed plans for the memorial, which included the revival of the memorial, the erection of palisade fencing to separate the memorial and its garden, and the erection of gates at the entrances which will be locked at night and hopefully deter any further vandalism.

The artefacts that once enshrined the memorial will also be replaced in time.

“As a department it is our responsibility to preserve this heritage site by any means possible, and the finance department is on board in evaluating the actual worth of specific heritage sites in Springs,” said Rambau.

He added that he will look into the lack of participation in the departments that are supposed to work together to initiate change in the restoration of important historical sites on the East Rand.

All three of the officials agree that the erection of the new fence provides little satisfaction if problems such as vandalism and litter keep plaguing the memorial.