A public recreational facility in Welgelegen has become a hotspot where sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll openly get traded in broad daylight, are written on the walls or lie latent in the grass. This much to the disgust of residents who are reportedly haunted by substances changing hands, escalating noise pollution and the remnants of sexual intercourse, hard liquor, narcotic concoctions and anti-retrovirals strewn across the park in Lt Gert du Toit Crescent.
Residents, who have been instrumental in alerting authorities on concerns about matters that have reached the height of degradation already three years ago when issues had reportedly first been brought to the attention of Polokwane Council, describe the effects of utilisation of the park as a living hell.
Especially weekends and month end the dangers lurking in the park culminated into an intolerable scenario, said one resident. The source attested to sounds resembling that of gunfire ringing out in the park this past weekend. Over festive seasons they had to leave the area for the incessant noise booming from all over made things unbearable, the resident added.
The source emphasised that the recreational space, consisting of an open u-shape field and a large sand pit with jungle gym on the one side, posed a hazard to man and animal. Under trees discarded cigarette butts, used condoms and wrappers, countless small empty plastic pockets suspected of having contained CAT or cocaine, broken bottle shards from every possible liquor brand, a dead bird and animal intestines form an offensive kaleidoscope.
The repeated discovery of scores of painkiller containers as well as empty lemonade and beer bottles in one particular spot to the one side of the park led to the suspicion about a toxic party drug concoction being popular among visitors, Polokwane Observer was informed. A bottle previously containing a combination anti-retroviral regimen relied on to prevent HIV transmission counts among the salvage offered as proof of a situation leaving the neighbourhood and its inhabitants vulnerable.
At intervals the word “sex” and love messages feature prominently on outer walls that afford the occupants of surrounding properties, some with gates leading into the vast field, easy access to the park. The outer fence was apparently kept intact until some time back when parts of it had been removed, now allowing for vehicles to drive through.
The resident referred to the facility being used as meeting place for the suspected exchange of drugs between buyer and seller, the youngest incident witnessed on Sunday when the occupants of two vehicles briefly interacted on the one side of the public property. The resident explained that the park was seemingly considered an easy target for illicit dealings with the option of quick escape routes available on either side leading to and from nearby Gen De La Rey Street and an adjacent office park development.
As suspicious transactions continued, the most recent suspect movements and booming noise levels have been observed during the course of last Monday at a time when people from the neighbourhood took late afternoon walks, the source said. Most recently the driver of a parked vehicle causing a racket in the office park seemingly captured images of a resident who confronted him about disturbance of the peace that afternoon, it was added.
It was further pointed out that at times suspect-looking individuals either gather along the walls or in parked cars but the fact that they all engage in frantic texting upon arrival apparently attracts most attention.
Unsettling noise levels continued to drive residents insane, said a resident who complained about vibrating music in the area at 01:00 and again at 03:00 on Tuesday. Excessive noise yet again commenced yesterday (Wednesday) at 06:00, it was pointed out.
The resident added that it was not always possible to establish the origin thereof as there were no natural barriers to curb sound in that densely populated but flat area surrounding the park.
According to a resident the Police and local community policing forum have constantly been informed about the treacherous circumstances, but that apart from the odd follow-up – of which the last was some two weeks ago – nothing had come of the complaints in the past. The resident was adamant that the buck was being passed and not enough was being done to address perceived crime-related conduct that has spiralled out of control.
Whenever matters got reported to the 10111 emergency number, questions about the situation delayed reaction time and when the Police arrived it was too late or chased off any suspects by arriving in “cowboy style”.
The same resident pointed out that since matters have been brought to the attention of Democratic Alliance (DA) councillors on the local city council in 2015, the only assistance forthcoming was annoying offers from estate agents for selling the resident’s property. The resident subsequently stressed that they wouldn’t want to sell, but instead live in peace.
Provincial Police spokesperson Moatshe Ngoepe’s comment is printed verbatim: “In terms of the sector manager responsible for the area, they received complain(an)ts about this matter and it was fully attended to it but if there are still (having) complain(an)ts, they must go and see the station commander for intervention”.
In his response Polokwane Municipality’s Communications and Marketing Manager Matshidiso Mothapo said they took note of the matter and that the maintenance of parks was an activity that had to be dealt with in conjunction with the community. He appealed to the public to report areas where immediate intervention instead of routine maintenance was required. All contraventions of municipal by-laws relating to noise disturbance should be directly reported to the Police, he concluded.
Story & photos: YOLANDE NEL
>>observer.yolande@gmail.com
