Barberton no longer jewel of the Lowveld

BARBERTON – The welcome sign which greets visitors entering the town from the R38 reads: “Welcome to Barberton, the Genesis of Life”.

Driving along this main road soon dispenses with the idea that the town’s infrastructure lives up to this claim. The main road leading to the city centre is filled with potholes and motorists have to swerve sharply to avoid damage to their vehicles. According to residents Glenda and Steve Boshof, it appears that the area is being neglected.

As far as the eye can see in the town centre, the roads are riddled with potholes and the overgrown bush and litter is a concern for many who live there. The couple bemoaned the fact that historical sites like the Anglo-Boer War Blockhouse in Judge Street is totally obscured by the long grass, which has grown to almost a metre high.

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Glenda said, “The long grass makes it impossible to view the site and the potholes along Heritage Walk mean that tourists avoid visiting areas of historical importance in the town.”

The area has, in recent years, gained notoriety for the influx of illegal miners who use the Heritage Walk to access the mountains. The pair also feel that the overgrown grass creates ideal conditions for the criminal element to pounce on unsuspecting tourists. The Boshofs said that they felt the town, which was known as the jewel of the Lowveld 20 years ago, no longer deserves the moniker.

They pointed to instances where raw sewage flowed on Crown Street, adding that they have reported a number of water leaks to the Mbombela municipality. These were superficially fixed only to start again a few weeks later. The couple have resided in Barberton for 59 years and said they were bitterly disappointed at the infrastructural decay and the apparent unwillingness by the municipality to fix the potholed roads.

They singled out the one-way road passing Task as a prime example of the neglect they feel the town is experiencing. On a tour of the town, streets like Stanley Road stood out as areas in dire need of attention. Steve and Glenda pointed out the risk the long grass poses to children who walk home from Barberton Primary School.

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“Who knows what criminals may be lurking in the bush, just waiting on these children when school ends for the day?”, they asked. They agreed that the area’s entire population bore the brunt of this neglect. Glenda mentioned her domestic worker, who lives in Emjindini Extension 11.

“She has reported to us a number of times that they still have no electricity in the area and that there are constant sewage leaks which take weeks to be fixed. The youth in the area have even taken to filling the gaping potholes with sand.”

According to the Boshofs, the road to Sheba is pitch black at night because there are no streetlights.

She said, “We have requested on numerous occasions that the municipality look into this because there have been a number of incidents of dogs being poisoned. On the evening of April 14, there were gunshots fired and homeowners fear for their lives.”

Burgerville, which is also known locally as Katanga, is experiencing first-hand a number of the concerns mentioned by the Boshofs. Drivers swerve widely to avoid the cavernous potholes in the street and some have taken to placing bricks in the holes, which they also fill with sand. Long-time resident, Gilbert Bonini showed Lowvelder the public swimming pool, which has been left derelict.

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Bonini said, “This has become a place where idle youth engage in all sorts of illicit behaviour.”

A visit to the swimming pool comfirmed what he was saying. A number of youths were in what were the changing rooms, engaging in underage drinking. What little water was left, was a murky green. The adjoining tennis court could not be accessed as a result of the long grass.

He continued, “There are no recreational facilities for our children and we would rather have this building demolished because of the danger it poses and the illegal goings-on here.”

Another resident, Davy Topham, added that over all his years of living in the area the neglect and decay is something which he is angered by. He said, “These are issues which need to be addressed immediately, because this is become a breeding ground for dangerous activities.”

Another resident, Martin Africa, said, “It is high time something is done to fix these issues.”