Will the town ever be like it was in the ‘good old days’?
Kobie Myburgh, 61, is a resident who volunteered to work with Councillor Tewie Botha in Wards 5, 6 and 9 to address Randfontein’s problems.
She explained that there are many issues in town which residents have requested the municipality repeatedly to address.
“Issues like pipes bursting all the time and lots of clean water being wasted, not to mention the sewage that keeps running into the streets, are being reported continuously to no avail.”
According to Kobie the potholes in Randfontein have become a huge problem, adding that the town no longer has a municipality that cares.
Where does all our money go that’s suppose to be used for maintaining the town? The problems are ‘solved’ only to surface again after a few days, and it needs to be reported repeatedly.”
She is worried that the community also no longer cares as garbage is being dumped everywhere on open stands, at the cemetery and at the squatter camp in Randgate close to Elandsvlei.
“It has become so erratic that people are now leaving garbage on other people’s sidewalks. I’m shocked at how the people of Randfontein just don’t seem to care anymore. This is something we can control because it’s our responsibility to keep our town clean.”
She wishes to make the residents aware of items that can be recycled, such as plastic bottles, glass bottles, paper and garden refuse, and that vegetable peels can be used to make compost.
Kobie advised that recyclable materials be put in separate bags so that recyclers could identify them more easily to prevent bags being torn open and rubbish left on the sidewalk.
According to Kobie it’s been going on like this for a few years, but in the last two years everything has just been falling apart.
Randfontein’s cleaning services have been hit hard; private people cut the grass at the cemetery, and Total Garage and mini Pick n Pay, they are the people who care about a clean town.”
She explained that the informal settlement across from Laerskool Rapportryer’s sports grounds is in a really bad state, and the section of Lazaar Avenue where all the tree are has become a dumping site.
“I am embarrassed about my town. I’ve been living here for 41 years and I’ve never seen the town in such a bad state; it’s shocking. Greenhills, which was once the posh neighbourhood of Randfontein, is a rubbish heap. The sidewalks are littered with rubbish.”
Kobie is urging residents to take action to clean their own gardens, and dump rubbish where they are allowed to do so. Fines should be issued to offenders.
I can’t understand why people do this. Someone once told me littering was job-creation because people get paid to remove it, but I believe people don’t care about their environment.”
Kobie also appealed to the municipality to use the money they receive from those who pay rates and taxes to return Randfontein to the proud town it used to be.
