Children are not often seen playing at the Amanat Centre playpark.
Instead, the ones who mostly frequent the public facility are adults, whose antisocial behaviour has decided many parents from bringing their children there.
Shopowners have reached their wits’ end.
One owner said it was the ‘filthy habits’ of many adults which had contributed to the ‘terrible and unhygienic’ state of the Amanat Centre in general.
“There’s lots of dirt and the park isn’t maintained. People complain, but never look after anything.”
A visit to the park by reporters revealed damaged equipment, broken glass bottles, litter and a random heap of corrugated sheet against the boundary fence.
It was insinuated a vagrant used the park as an overnight stop.
Newcastle SAPS spokesman, Captain Jabulani Ncube confirmed police officials did patrol the area on a regular basis, as monitoring of playparks fell within its jurisdiction.
“There are cases which can be opened although drinking in public is no longer a crime per se.”
Complaints regarding the Amanat Centre playpark were communicated to Newcastle Municipality and a formal response was received last week.
“The park is cleaned of refuse three times a week,” said Newcastle Municipality’s Head of Communications, Dr Dumisani Thabethe.
A team of workers is said to conduct litter collection on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while the grass is cut every second or third week.
However, there are no security guards to patrol the facility’s grounds.
“The security guards were removed from some of the municipal facilities due to budget constraints. The municipality needs to make budget provisions for the upgrade of playparks, i.e. purchasing of new playground equipment. However as stated in a number of articles, service delivery needs are competing for prioritisation,” concluded Dr Thabethe.
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