Rats run riot in Fourways

According to Peter Rosema, who has been monitoring the rat activity, the problem starts and ends with the food trucks on the side of Roos Road.

Food trucks line Roos Road to supply meals to the workers of the numerous office parks and buildings in the area. However, Rosema claims that leftovers and old frying oil are making their way into the vacant veld alongside the road and have become an all-you-can-eat buffet for the rodents.

“The rats are the size of six-month-old kittens,” Rosema said. “They are so brave that they will come right up to humans; they’re not scared at all.”

At the end of last year, the City of Joburg’s Environmental Health Department placed poison in the area to exterminate the rats. They then did a follow-up visit in December last year.

Sonja du Plooy, senior environmental health practitioner for the City of Joburg said during their inspection of the area, no rodents were identified.

“The poison provided seemed to have a brilliant effect,” she said. “Traders informed me that they collected bags full of rodents.”

According to du Plooy, the number of hawkers on Roos Road also reduced to only two traders. “Traders have been educated again on waste removal, basic hygiene and pest control,” said du Plooy.

“No health nuisance was identified and notices were served to the owner of the vacant property behind the traders to clear the property.”

However, Rosema is not convinced that this is the end of the rat problem in Fourways. He believes that while the rat problem may be solved on Roos Road, the rats may be infiltrating other parts of Fourways central by travelling along spruits and pipes.