For the past two weeks, people have been cutting down trees beside the road in West Village. Councillor Whitey Moleba explained this was all for a good cause.
Around two weeks ago some children were walking down Tom Muller Street from Boltonia’s side when they were robbed of their cell phones.
The councillor put out a request to his community for assistance and a community member, Lucky Chingombe a local tree feller stepped forward and offered to assist in cutting down the massive blue wattle trees that were growing next to the road. Moleba explained that he had been asking for assistance from the municipality for a long time but to no avail.
They cut down about 25 big trees and Moleba also assisted the six men over the weekend. Chingombe said he would sell the wood from the trees to pay for the petrol and equipment used during the project.
“I am a resident in the ward at Boltonia and West Village is part of my ward. I want to give back to the community to ensure their safety. People are being robbed of their cellphones and personal belongings along the main road. Now it is clear and safe. Even illegal dumping will minimise when it is clear,” he said.
They chose to cut down the trees closest to the road as these were the ones providing a hiding spot for criminals. They started at the beginning of the first bridge on Tom Muller Street when coming from Boltonia and cut off the trees all the way to Lindela.
Previously, Moleba also arranged for trees to be cut down near the Sportsview Club in West Village and he explained that now, motorists can see oncoming traffic when they drive past the bend and there is no more hideout for criminals.
A community member passing by said to the News that he usually drives to town because he is too afraid to walk, but when he saw the trees were cut he decided to take his day off and walk to the shops from West Village.
He added that with summer comes rain and that would have just made the leaves grow thicker and contributed to the lack of visibility. Even mentioned that he saw a broken cable on his way and reported it to Moleba, which he added would not have been visible if the trees were still there.
