The writing is on the wall for graffiti artists.Mr Richard Rundell and his wife, Lucy, live in Cyrildene. They say the boundary wall of their property has been vandalised by graffiti artists.
They blame the pupils from a primary school in the area.
Mr Rundell said the problem started in 2010.
“I removed the graffiti and cleaned it up. Following that incident, every now and again the graffiti would start again. In all this time, the school has accepted responsibility and cleaned the walls,” he said..
He said the school did not want to take responsibility for the latest incidents on November 24 and 25.
“I reported it to the front office woman at the school, on the afternoon of November 24, and no action was taken by the school.
“I was told it was a ‘cultural thing’. More writing was added on the morning of the November 25, which was again reported to the school along with copies of photos showing the offending messages on the wall.
“My wife dropped it off at the school office and was also told it was a ‘cultural thing’. When my wife asked for the wall to be cleaned, she was told, ‘Who do we get to clean it off?’ I hold the school responsible for these acts of vandalism and would appreciate it if my walls are cleaned as soon as possible,” said Mr Rundell.
He said for the past two weeks, pupils from the school have been ringing his gate bell and then running away.
“By the time we get outside, they are gone. I have also expressed my displeasure at this behaviour to the school by personally going to the office on November 23. I believe something was said at the school because the gate bell ringing has stopped,” said Mr Rundell.
He also complained that the pupils from the same school are using the street in front of the school as a playground while they are waiting for their transport.
“They are playing soccer and rugby in the road. They chase each other and run across the road without looking and there have been some close calls with these children almost being knocked over. Some of the boys sit in the road and when a car approaches and hoots, they simply do not move away.
“Since I went to the school with my complaints, it seems as though the pupils are, for the moment, behaving themselves,” he said.
An official from the school said the principal was not going to comment and asked the EXPRESS to direct all inquiries to the Gauteng Department of Education.
An inquiry was send to Brenda Mabaso from the Gauteng Department of Education on Tuesday, November 24, with a request for comment on November 25 at 11am.
At the time of going to print, no comment had been received.
