Since the start of the year, there has been one issue after another at the Kloofendal Nature Reserve, causing constant clashes between members of the public and Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ).
The public outcry began with the ward councillor (Sonja Meyer), concerned residents, and Friends of Kloofendal (FroK) working to appeal several items on the approved budget for upgrades at the reserve. While JCPZ had allocated money for various cosmetic upgrades such as staff housing, a restaurant, and a tented lodge, the concerned parties expressed their anger saying that the money would be far better spent on fixing more pressing, long-standing issues at the reserve. This included sewerage system upgrades, repairing the broken boundary fences, improved security, and more measures against alien plant species.
While residents have seemed to be doing their part by refraining from flushing insoluble items down their toilets, and therefore lessening the frequency of sewage leaks in the reserve, security remains a huge issue.
The broken sections of the cement fence that run along Snipe Street had been closed off temporarily with wire mesh, but it was easy to bend and consequently left a lot of access points for people trying to enter the reserve undetected. JCPZ staff had finally come out to replace the makeshift fence with palisade fencing on 9 March. However, what seems to be a miscommunication led to nearly the entire Snipe Street boundary fence being removed instead of a small section at a time like initially planned.
According to Sonja, after realising their mistake, the contractors simply packed up their equipment and left. Even though she was informed that the fence would be erected that night, Snipe Street was left completely open until arrangements could be made for a catch net to be installed and a security patrol to be sent to that section of the reserve.
Instead of the palisade fencing, the only protection that boundary of the reserve had was the catch net with visible gaps in it, cement debris surrounding it, and a lot of rubbish directly behind it. A site visit by Sonja proved just how ineffective these nets were when she showed that gently moving the net to one side created the perfect access point to the reserve. After nearly a month of complaints from residents and the ward councillor, Jenny Moodley (spokesperson for JCPZ) said that work to install the palisades began again and ended on 30 March. However, Sonja has refuted these claims, saying that the contractors only finished erecting the fence on Monday, 5 April.
Several questions were sent to JCPZ to enquire about several issues the reserve is experiencing, but there has been no response as yet. As soon as comment is received, an update will be published.
