A few months ago, the residents complained that the canal was so overgrown that storm water could not flow through. Although municipal workers cleaned the canal, they did not remove the weeds and other vegetation but dumped it on the side. As a result of the good rainfall this season, these plants have now sprouted and grown to about six feet high. “They should have carted it away by truck when they cleared it,” complains one of the residents, Mr Shuffae Sello, who stays near the canal in Oranje Street. He says the overgrowth is now so high that it obscures the view of oncoming traffic for drivers turning from Beatrix Street into Oranje Street. To make matters worse, however, the thicket (dense bush) has now caused another problem. When an unusual looking mosquito recently bit his daughter, she killed it and the family searched for it on the internet. What they found alarmed them. They determined that the insect was an Asian Tiger mosquito, an invasive species that seems to have been spotted in parts of Gauteng from as early as 2013. According to the website, Invasive Species SA, this mosquito, which originally comes from South East Asia, is known to transmit various diseases and pathogens, including West Nile virus, yellow fever, dengue fever and Chikungunya fever. It also transmits disease to animals. What concerns Sello, is that these mosquitoes are breeding among the bushes left by the municipality. “We are going to be infected by these mosquitoes; they are dangerous,” he complains. The Herald took the concerns to the Merafong City Local Municipality on Tuesday. “The municipality is working on the maintenance,” was the only reply from the municipal spokesperson. 
