[WATCH] Clean-up requested in Benoni before Johnson Crane Marathon
The route to the Johnson Crane marathon has been reported as an eyesore.
Thousands of runners will be on Benoni’s streets this Sunday for the Johnson Crane Marathon and with just days to go, urgent requests have been put in to the council to clean up parts of the route which are an eyesore.
André du Plessis, DA Ward 23 councillor, has in fact put in a request to the city manager, Dr Imogen Mashazi, following his own inspection of part of the route and complaints from residents in the area about the state of things.
“The City of Ekurhuleni has made absolutely no effort to clean up along the route of this marathon,” du Plessis said.
“If we want to showcase Ekurhuleni as a ‘smart, efficient and developmental’ city then this is definitely not the way to do it.
“DA Benoni councillors have requested the grass to be cut along the route, but the facts are that the grass-cutting tenders have not been awarded since July last year.
“The parks depots also do not have in-house resources to maintain all the areas and are in the middle of crisis management by dealing with areas where most complaints have been received.
“We are already halfway through the financial year as well as grass-cutting season.
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“We are currently reviewing the metro’s grass-cutting policy and have insisted it be altered to ensure there is coordination between the waste and parks department before grass-cutting takes place and that all grass-cuttings are removed after cutting takes place.
“I have sent a specific request to the city manager to urgently address having all the areas cleaned up along the route of this marathon from all relevant departments, including roads and potholes, water and sanitation for overflowing sewers, plus parks and waste.
“My DA ward councillor colleagues have also asked the various departments to come to the party in their specific wards along the route of the marathon and do their duties to clean up,” said du Plessis.
The City Times is awaiting comment form the Ekurhuleni metro on the concerns raised.
