Grass cutting backlog normal confirms City of Ekurhuleni

The City of Ekurhuleni confirmed it is dealing with the current backlog in grass cutting across the metro. The NEWS recently met with Bedfordview ward councillor Jill Humphreys who said residents have inundated her with complaints of long grass throughout Bedfordview.

“In some places the grass is waist-high,” she said. Humphreys added that in some cases residents were cutting the grass at public parks opposite their homes themselves.

The NEWS sent a detailed enquiry regarding the cutting of the grass, the tenders awarded for grass cutting and tree trimming and the timeframe needed to catch up the backlog.

ALSO READ: 33 killed on City of Ekurhuleni roads between December 1, 2020 and January 22, 2021

In response, the NEWS received a press statement from acting City of Ekurhuleni spokesperson Solly Mashabela who stated that the backlog was normal for this time of the year.

“Due to the festive season break and the amount of rainfall received over the months of December and January, there is a backlog with regards to horticultural maintenance and arboriculture maintenance across the City of Ekurhuleni,” he said.

Mashabela said it was normal to have backlogs between January and March. “In recent years, this period of the year has recorded more severe rainfalls accompanied by high temperatures, which is attributed to the changing weather patterns.”

He added that vegetation thrived in these conditions. “The service providers appointed for cutting grass are currently working on areas allocated to them, while internal teams are also doing horticultural maintenance,” Mashabela said.

He also said that maintenance schedules will be available at the city’s customer care centres, where the community can access them.

“We are also aware of the high number of complaints, and the city is working hard to resolve the complaints. We urge our community to be patient and bear with us during this busiest time of the year,” Mashabela said.

Also follow us on: