Woman appeals to the municipality to clean up

A BUSINESS owner in Morningside is shocked by the state of the lane adjacent to her premises, and said she is still waiting for the municipality to clean it up.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said she first reported the state of the lane to the municipality in July, and City Health had told her this month that it would be cleaned up.

“I’m not sure how often the lane should be cleaned, once a week, month or year, but it hasn’t been cleaned in ages and is a health hazard beyond comprehension,” she said.

She said the lane was frequented by vagrants, who defecated on the road and on the pavement and left used condoms lying on the ground. She said there were piles of rubble and other items dumped along the pavement, which attracted rats ‘as big as cats’.

“Something needs to be done to clean this up, and for it to be maintained, as the number of vagrants in the area is increasing and nothing is being done about it,” she said.

In response to queries by Berea Mail, eThekwini Head of Communications, Tozi Mthethwa, said: “The relevant unit has been made aware of the matter and officers will be sent to investigate and enforce by-laws, if deemed necessary.”

She said the City’s Metro Police conducts daily by-law enforcement operations in all areas in the City and this includes the enforcement of the Nuisances and Behaviour in Public Places By-law.

“During these early morning operations sleeping vagrants are removed from outside places of business, and arrested. During our daily enforcement operations, we have noted that the scourge is more prevalent in areas such as the inner City, Warwick Avenue, some parts of Morningside, Isiphingo, the Pinetown taxi rank, and the Workshop area. We have also been receiving complaints from residents in the Musgrave area. Law enforcement agencies will continue to monitor and combat the scourge daily,” she said.

Mthethwa said eThekwini Municipality calls on all its residents and visitors to familiarise themselves with the by-laws which are available on the Municipal website at www.durban.gov.za and obey the law at all times.

“The process of community engagement is on-going and we aim to incrementally change public behaviour as awareness is raised,” she said.