Ward 98 councillor Laurette van Zijl writes:
[In response to Illegal squatting in park, week ending 25 October]The Fairland ratepayers and I are actively addressing this problem and have been doing so for many years.
Very many factors contribute to the presence of the vagrants, starting with National Immigration Policy, and it is not a problem that a single person, department or even a law enforcement authority is able to solve overnight.
It can and should however be managed by the official channels with the assistance of the local residents.
This specific problem is exacerbated by the soup kitchen which is run by a local church. I have witnessed vagrants increase fourfold within a month at the opening of a soup kitchen and this is exactly what happened and is happening here.
(There are other ways of providing for the destitute such as by giving them a place to stay rather than to let them live and sleep in the open in the park. The Northcliff Union Church has also replaced their soup kitchen by a ‘food for skills programme’ while other churches take the food to where the people’s homes are.)
Contrary to what is said in the article, the Fairland SAPS has acted against the vagrants and impounded their belongings numerous times. The local good Samaritans, however, replace the impounded items, thus undoing all the work the SAPS had done.
City Parks, time and again, undertake to patrol and clean the park up to three times a week. When the situation improves, the resources are moved elsewhere, allowing the situation at the Smit Street Park to deteriorate again. The whole process of requesting and re-requesting the regular patrols and cleaning the park then starts anew, as I am presently doing.
The taxis and the illegal street sellers go hand-in-hand and will remain a persistent problem until the authorities have the courage to call them to order and enforce basic road rules and the bylaws that regulate the taxis.
Having said all the above, I shall continue to do my best to have the situation addressed on all levels, as I am sure the Fairland ratepayers will also do.
