“This property belongs to the Mbombela Local Municipality. The clinic is here, as well as the public library. So we want to make it look better, because right now it doesn’t,” said Sanley van der Merwe, DA ward councillor for ward 17, which includes Nelsville.
“The municipality doesn’t get to it. Our areas are overgrown. They are understaffed and under-resourced, and they don’t have the finances. Their equipment isn’t available when you need it.”
The councillors tackled the long grass and weeds at the community centre. The municipality had not provided them with lawnmowers and trimmers, so they had to purchase their own.
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“If we don’t bring our own machines, how is it going to happen?” Van der Merwe explained that the DA had collected money to help pay for the equipment.
She pointed out that the municipality is thinly stretched and needs help to get to everything.
“We feel the municipality doesn’t give nearly enough people or funding to attend to our public spaces. So we do it by ourselves.”
Though no one from the community attended the clean-up, van der Merwe is positive that this will change in future. “We just need to get more involved and then the community will as well. The DA hopes that these initiatives will also help encourage community participation.”
