UMBILO residents are calling for the park and nearby substation in Dunkirk Road, which they say is being abused by vagrants, to be cleaned and fenced.
They claim vagrants live in the park, openly use drugs and use the substation as a toilet.
According to one resident, Katherine Schnittker, between 10 and 12 vagrants have been living in the park for the past three months, and a recent park clean-up by the municipality did nothing to deter them from returning.
“The substation next to the park urgently needs to be fenced off as it has been used as a toilet by the vagrants that have been sleeping in the park for months. A dustbin in the park is also used as a toilet. Vagrants that pick through the rubbish in surrounding areas bring the bags to the park and rummage, whatever they don’t need is just strewn across the park,” she said.
Schnittker said the playground equipment is old and vagrants had stolen whatever they could hack off during the night.
“The whoonga addicts sit there all day and night and smoke in front of children playing in the park unsupervised. The flies and rats have been the worst, not to mention the stench. Residents and businesses in the road have had enough! The whole area also badly needs new lights,” she said, adding that prostitutes were using the road to ply their trade, and the park for their ‘business.’
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Visiting the park on Monday, ward councillor Mmabatho Tembe said she had requested a clean-up at the park and substation on 11 September and that the Parks Department and DSW had cut the grass, cleaned up litter and removed the vagrants.
“We have had a series of clean-ups at the park but the result is that it continues to degrade as time goes by. The Departments need to take better care of their entities,” she said.
Tembe said she would request another clean-up, adding that she had contacted the head of the Electricity Department to request the substation be fenced.
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