Park petition to fight crime

Ward 104 councillor Mike Wood and residents are tired of crime in Fontainebleau Park.

They are forming a petition for the City of Johannesburg to cut the grass and clean up litter in the park, and already they have 200 signatures.

According to Wood, drug dealing, prostitution, gambling, and vagrancy are rife in the park, and better maintenance will reduce these.

“The City takes forever and a day to get the place cleaned up,” Wood said.

This reduces the value of properties in the area.

“We want to petition the City because the City is obliged to act,” he added.

One of the residents behind the petition, John Irving, said that drug deals and gambling happen in the park every day, and men in the park “harass” school children.

“People used to play touch rugby [in the park],” he said.

“They no longer do. The park is now being used for everything it should not be used for.”

Irving and Wood hope that if the park and the Junior Traffic Centre are maintained, people will use them, and crime will decrease in the area.

They will acquire as many signatures as possible over the next few weeks, before presenting their petition to the City of Johannesburg’s Office of the Speaker.

Questions were sent to the City’s media relations officer Nthatise Modingoane, and comment is awaited.

Details: Ward 104 councillor Mike Wood mikewo@mweb.co.za, 082 853 2174.