“We have tall grass growing in front of our home, and at the back and other surrounding areas of our residence,” says Paul.
The vacant stand which is across Ackerman’s residence is of great concern to him and his wife, who say it has been in an unruly state for months, and has grown to the extent that they cannot even see over it, which is a big safety risk.
“Nobody can see over the grass,” says Valerie, “just a few weeks ago, there was a suspicious car standing by the veld as I pulled out of my driveway, but I had the instinct not to approach it and just drove off.
When I returned I asked my neighbours and other residents if they knew the car, and they said no, which tells me the people in the car were probably up to no good. We are scared.”
Paul also explains there are a lot of snakes that emerge from the long grass and people even use the vacant areas as dumping sites, because there is no monitoring or control from the metro.
“There are small children who live right next to this veld,” says Paul, “which means the snakes and refuse that is there is a big danger to them. We have even gone to the municipality and they say they cannot help as they are not responsible for privately-owned land.”
The Ackermans have resolved on involving other residents to form a collective effort of signing a petition for better service delivery in their area, which they say is gaining a lot of support from fed-up residents.
“We have started a petition where we will tell government we want them to clean and take responsibility,” says Paul, “most of the residents have signed it and we hope we will see a difference once it goes to the council.”
Addie has sent questions to the metro and is awaiting feedback.
