Notorious Groendam field gets a facelift
A makeshift shop, couches, cardboard and mattresses as well as drug paraphernalia were removed from the area.
The notorious Groendam open field area in the west of Pretoria received a clean-up on Wednesday, April 3.
The open field area in Daspoort, Ward 1 known among locals as “Groendam” is a popular spot for vagrants to sort through their trash and use drugs.
The clean-up was courtesy of Councillor Leon Kruyshaar, residents and the Tshwane metro police department (TMPD) and was joined by the metro, the local CPF and Uberwachung Security Company.
Stakeholders involved in the effort had to first clean the area of litter and drug paraphernalia before they could begin the actual cutting of the grass on the field.
“We removed a lot of the rubble first to clean the area. It’s getting hectic as it’s built up again since the last time we cleaned two weeks back. We’ve got a water channel that causes a stink around the area that we are going to investigate,” said Kruyshaar.
Trackers, special grass cutters and helpers were all hands on deck during the clean-up.
A makeshift shop, couches, mattresses and drug paraphernalia were removed.
Kruyshaar said the Tshwane metro police needs to conduct regular patrols to ensure the area doesn’t see a repeat of the unappealing conditions. He asserted that the land belongs to the metro and that the SAPS and TMPD should do regular follow-ups to ensure vagrants no longer occupy it.
“Hopefully, we can make some progress here, I don’t know how long that’s going to last and then we’re just going to go back to the same old if we don’t police this,” he said.
“I’m going to request the TMPD by-law team to assist with this. This is a mess and we have to do something.
I saw vehicles speeding past not maintaining the law and we have to do something before this happens again. People are sleeping here at night, they’re setting fires, eating and living here and at night they’re robbing us blind. I’m gatvol of it,” he said.
Vagrants apparently gather at the dam and take all their recyclables to the local recycling depot on Moot Street. They bring their rubbish and sort through what they can sell and discard or set alight whatever they cannot.
The clean-up crew is also taking its efforts to Mountain View and Capital Park throughout the rest of this and next week.
Watch here: https://www.tiktok.com/@leonkruyshaar13/video/7353844900493921541
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