The Advertiser has received numerous complaints over the past few weeks from residents bemoaning the state of parks in Springs.
Residents have reported overgrown bushes and long grass all over town and have questioned the lack of action from the City of Ekurhuleni.
In Selcourt, there has been a tree lying across Wedza Road since December 23.
Melanie Maxwell said the tree covers three quarters of the road and they thought it would be cleared by January 16, but to date nothing has been done.
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“This poses a threat to the community because anyone who drives on that road at night and is not aware of the obstruction could be seriously injured,” said Maxwell.
Also in a shocking state is the war memorial in the Springs CBD.
The fence has been broken, the grass is overgrown and the memorial itself is littered with waste and human feaces.
From the growth of the weeds, grass and abundance of litter at the memorial, it is clear it has been more than six months months since it was last cleaned.
Ward councillor Dean Stone said this was the worst he has ever seen the memorial in all the time he has been a councillor in Springs.
“The MMC for Environmental Services must resign with immediate effect. There has not been a contract for grass cutting for the past year.
“Then the parks department turned around and said they were not working because they don’t have personal protective equipment, they haven’t been at work for a year.
“The MMC has not taken any responsibility and this is what we’re sitting with here (war memorial),” said Stone when he visited the site on Saturday.
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In response to the residents’ complaints, Nhlanhla Cebekhulu, divisional head of communication and media Relations at the City of Ekurhuleni, said they were turning the tide against the grass-cutting backlog.
Cebekhulu said the backlog was due to the festive season break and the amount of rainfall received over the months of December and January.
“This is a norm every year, to have these kinds of backlogs between the months of January and March.
“In recent years, this period of the year has recorded more severe rainfalls accompanied by high temperatures, which is attributed to the changing weather patterns and vegetation thrives in these conditions.
“The service providers appointed for cutting grass are currently working on areas allocated to them while internal teams are also doing horticultural maintenance.
“Maintenance schedules will be available at the City’s customer care centres, where the community can access them.
“We are also aware of the high number of complaints and the City is working hard to resolve the complaints. We urge our community to be patient and bear with us during this busiest time of the year.
“The City apologies for the inconvenience caused to our customers,” said Cebekhulu.
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