Breyten, the forgotten town
"Sadly, Msukaligwa seems to have adopted a 'don't care' attitude towards Breyten.
Breyten, a small and once bustling town near Ermelo, seems to have been all but forgotten by the Msukaligwa Municipality, under whose jurisdiction the town falls.
It is now in danger of becoming a ghost town.
This is according to a long-time resident of Breyten and well-known medical practitioner, Dr Fareed Dindar.
Dr Dindar and partners run one of the most successful medical practices in the region and have been one of the mainstays in the economy of Breyten for many years.
The steady decline in the general condition of the town with regard to maintenance and upkeep has prompted Dr Dindar to write several letters to the Msukaligwa Municipality over the past three years but, to date, little or no response has been forthcoming.
“Infrastructure maintenance is no more. The roads are badly potholed and in dire need of repair before they are reduced to gravel.
“There has been no attempt to fill these potholes for a long time now. Pavements are not maintained and garbage is collected at irregular intervals.
“This entices residents to dump garbage on pavements and any vacant property which simply adds to the problem,” said Dr Dindar.
He also pointed out that signposts bearing street names were almost non-existent, stop-street signs are falling over and heavy vehicle drivers take advantage of the lack of traffic police to disobey traffic laws by driving through the town, adding to the deterioration of the roads.
Cattle also roam the streets freely and some residents openly keep cattle on their properties, even in the main street.
“Breyten was once a beautiful town. I can remember as a child I used to ride my bicycle in the neatly kept streets and pavements. Sadly, this is no more.
“Grass grows over the kerbstones and into the streets. Sadly, Msukaligwa seems to have adopted a ‘don’t care’ attitude towards Breyten. Repeated calls to the call centre to have simple things like street lamp bulbs replaced are ignored.”
According to Dr Dindar this has resulted in a mass exodus of influential business people and companies that contributed substantially to the economy of the town.
Plummeting property values have resulted in an almost standstill in the demand for housing.
“Needless to say, this has led to large scale unemployment which is approaching dangerous levels as the youth in particular feel disenfranchised,” said Dr Dindar.
He added that when municipal workers were indeed sent to perform certain tasks, they were not supervised which resulted in extremely low levels of productivity.
“Why am I appealing for help? Because I love Breyten. It is my town and our family has lived here for a long time, but I don’t know how long I can put up with the indifference displayed by the Msukaligwa Municipality before I, too, take the easy way out and migrate elsewhere.
However, the words of my grandfather still echo in my heart and have thus far kept me here in Breyten. Grandad said the community of Breyten had given us our daily bread. He said that when I qualified as a doctor I should always be reminded of my humble beginnings and return here to serve the community with my profession.”
Dr Dindar expressed the hope that his appeal for action to be taken would not “land up in file 13 again” and that even a response in the form of written or telephonic engagement from the municipality would go a long way to allaying fears of Breyten becoming a ghost town.
