So who is to be blamed for all the littering?

So, it was business as usual on Saturday, October 3 and 10, when a sea of revelers from all over the country and outside our borders flocked to Boksburg to see local and international musicians performing at the fifth Ekurhuleni Spring Fiesta festival, and the H2O party held at Wild Waters.

And I was there, enjoying the party, too, but I also felt so ashamed when I came upon the chaos on North Rand Road while on my way home.

It is an undeniable fact that the acts delivered excellent performances and pleased the 13 000 party animals during the about 15 hours of non-stop live entertainment at the venue.

Apart from helping local and international musicians showcase their talents, creating employment opportunities and boosting the local economy, the event, however, also apparently attracts bad characters to our beloved city.

We cannot shut our eyes to the problems caused by those who, instead of joining the thousands of music lovers who arrive in Boksburg on different types of transport and proceed to Wild Waters, see it fit to concurrently hold their own mini street parties on North Rand and Rondebult roads, causing a public disturbance.

These people are a danger to themselves and other road-users, and are a downright nuisance.

It was this crowd of dubious characters who unashamedly spoiled the party’s reputation by intentionally breaking the city’s by-laws.

Many of them parked their vehicles on the pavements, while others blocked some of the lanes. They lit braai fires, drank in public and played their own music way too loud.

I even watched as many of them danced in the middle of the streets instead of enjoying themselves in the controlled festival grounds.

Not only was this an annoyance to residents, but they also left the streets and nearby parking areas strewn with litter. Oh, what a shame.

Since the first Spring Fiesta festival in 2011, the question that has to be asked is: who is to blame for this trash-and-leave behaviour?

Is it the event organisers, Wild Waters management, the police, our local government or the perpetrators themselves?

I understand that, because of their association with the event, some people believe Wild Waters and the event organisers should be dragged over the coals.

Despite the organisers and Wild Waters management showing a little humility by taking the responsibility to clean up the mess, even though it is not really their responsibility, I beg to differ with the argument that they are to blame.

North Rand Road, in particular, is about 1km from the venue and outside of Wild Waters’ direct control during the event.

Obviously the organisers and Wild Waters management have no control over what happens in areas outside their perimeter (which only includes the venue and the immediate vicinity).

However, they still took the initiative to make it their responsibility to utilise their resources to clean up the mess in all the affected areas – even those outside their property — and which was left by people who were not even at their event.

According to Wild Waters management, their staff woke up early on Sunday to begin the clean-up operation on site and surrounding areas, including the areas that were trashed by people who did not even buy tickets to the event.

Yes, it is shocking that it took almost a day to clean the loads of rubbish strewn in Bardene.

It seems apparent that the organisers were prepared for the huge number of visitors at the venue, as they had enough rubbish bins, ablution facilities and cleaners who picked up trash during and after the event at the venue, as well as outside.

Private security also secured and controlled access to the venue, as well as the homes and businesses that fell within the vicinity.

People were not even allowed to bring food and drinks into the venue, or leave the event with alcohol.

So it is clear that the bottles of alcohol and food containers left behind in the streets were not from Wild Waters or the event.

The festival experience, overall, was a peaceful one, with people having a good time and I believe this is one of the reasons why thousands of people continue to invest hundreds of Rand in buying tickets every year.

It’s about the music and the people.

But the behaviour of those who aren’t spending money on tickets comes at a significant cost, not only to the environment, but to those tasked with cleaning up the mess, as well as the festival’s reputation.

Dozens of EMPD and SAPS officers from different units were deployed to counter possible criminal activities, including breaking the city’s by-laws.

Despite their presence, people still broke the law without fear, as if someone had told them that the rule of law was relaxed on that day – or else party-goers felt that they were not subject to the rule of law.

I, personally, also believe that a big part of the problem is lax by-law enforcement. Fines, for example, are rarely imposed.

It is common for people to litter without any repercussions.

Authorities should ensure that offenders are fined and aggressive education campaigns should spread the word that littering will not be tolerated.

Must we then blame the police for inept handling of the situation? Or should we shift the blame to our government?

After all, our local government acts as a partner in this event and has the power and resources to curb these foreseeable problems.

Though litter is a serious issue in our city, seemingly the metro is lagging behind when it comes to mitigation of pollution of the environment.

This is not to say that nothing is being done, but much more needs to be done to keep the streets clean during these big events.

Even with such steps, however, the government can’t do it alone.

If the stakeholders truly want to cut down on infrastructure damage (pavements) and days of post-clean up, they must be willing to dedicate more resources toward preventing these problems.

From this standpoint, it seems that the only way to preserve the environment, including the festival grounds, is to create a concrete understanding and an input of effort from those who tend to break the by-laws and the stakeholders.

This involves making the attendees aware of the festival’s commitment to preservation, encouraging the crowds to play their part, issuing the right fines and, perhaps more than anything else, policing the most affected areas.

The idea is a simple one: if people want to continue attending these events and feel welcome and safe, they mustn’t treat our beautiful city as their personal litter box.

Despite having paid hundreds of Rand to attend the event and enjoy the experience, we all share the responsibility to keep our environment safe and clean and to make sure we’re able to return to the area and enjoy ourselves without problems.

Yes, the litter problem was shocking, but this is a problem that repeats itself every year in North Rand Road. This should, therefore, serve as a wake-up call for the stakeholders.

For all of us, it’s time to take pride in our environment and our city.

I also note the never-ending complaints about the loud music and the throngs of people attending the event.

I understand, however, that the event organisers took these complaints very seriously and made sure that noise levels were kept within the prescribed limit.

As far as I understand, authorities have also previously conducted noise measurements and found that the event was adhering to the rules.

It should also be noted that the event organisers have admitted that a crowd of more than 13 000 was too much for them to handle.

So at least the number of Spring Fiesta attendees dropped by 2 000 from the previous year. @FanieFLK