DIY action by city ratepayers

After weeks of voicing their anger over uncut grass at public parks and verges across the City of uMhlathuze, some residents have taken matters into their own hands – rolling up their sleeves to clean up their own community.

This was the case for a group of residents in Arboretum, who joined hands to cut the overgrown grass at a local park over the weekend.

“This movement was started by Medcare24 owner Jeandre Fourie with the support of Geelhoutkruin residents, as well as Westpoint security members.

“The residents put money together to get a tractor to cut the grass at the park opposite Richards Bay High School,” said resident CJ Schwan.

“We were extremely concerned about safety, especially for the children who play at that park, because the grass was one metre high and we were worried there could be snakes lurking.”

The clean-up comes amid uMhlathuze Municipality’s recently announced plans to tackle grass cutting in several areas across the city.

The city said it has appointed contractors to assist in the interim to cut grass in, among other areas, John Ross highway to Meerensee, Empangeni, eNseleni and Ngwelezana.

“The City of uMhlathuze is aware of the current situation related to grass cutting in different areas within its jurisdiction and its areas of responsibility.

“It should be noted that grass cutting under the City of uMhlathuze is divided into the following areas: public places that are cut by uMhlathuze (service providers and staff members), public areas (roads) that are cut by the Department of Transport (DoT), and private properties that are the responsibility of private owners or business individuals,” said the municipality in a statement on Monday.

“The municipality is engaging responsible owners and the DoT to ensure grass is cut timeously, particularly on the John Ross.

“However, a large part of public areas falls under the City of uMhlathuze, therefore the city accepts responsibility and acknowledges that some areas require urgent attention.

“It is for this reason that while we are internally attending to compliance matters in relation to the normal tender for grass cutting, we have decided to appoint contractors to assist in the interim to cut grass.”

The city said internal staff from its parks services will tackle their area of responsibility, with plans to complete the work by the end of February.

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