25 Mar 2021 | News
Community Clean-up 20 March 2021
Once upon a time, my Ward 35, the Bloemendal-Bethelsdorp area, was a beautiful ward run by a functional management team of the Metro. It was a clean place, where we, and now our kids used to play safely in the play parks (parky's). We even enjoyed sports like basketball, netball, tennis, etc. in those parky’s. They were well looked after, with dedicated facilities that had the necessary and required equipment to make those sports possible. Unfortunately, that’s not the state of play today, for kids and adults alike, our parky’s are not places you want to go to anymore.
That, combined with the high unemployment rate in my community, has left people with little to no hope, and youngsters and adults have turned instead to taking drugs in different forms like Mandrax, sleeping pills, Tik, etc. to keep themselves occupied. There’s no meaningful employment being offered here, hence the rise in poverty, crime and gangsterism in the area.
When our kids apply to college but don't get placement for whatever reason, that negativity spreads so fast through the community that it discourages kids to apply for the next semester, or the year after, and they eventually fall prey to whatever rubbish is offered out there.
The amount of illegal dumpsites on open spaces that once use to be playing areas or sport facilities are astonishing and quite frankly an eyesore. The amount of broken lamp poles leaves the area dark and makes it so easy for criminals to take advantage of the little the residents still have left. I drove through five streets the other night and counted a whopping 37 lamp poles not working. I reported this to the call-centre and the councillor's office with reference numbers in the hope it will be fixed to light the area up again. But nothing has changed.
I remember it like yesterday when our sewage drain blocked in our front yard maybe twice or three times a year, we would report it to the municipality and they will be there to fix it the same day or at least the next day early in the morning. Well, now when you report something like this to the call-centre, or report it to the ward councillor's office you can wait weeks, if not months for the municipality to fix it. It seems things only happen if you follow it up at least 20-odd times. The sports facilities, play parks, open spaces which has become an eye-sore have not been looked after for the past 12 or so years and the area has just been neglected and left behind by this Metro and it's leadership. And I can go on about the amount of illegal dumpsites in and around our area.
These are but just a drop in the ocean when it comes to how the Northern Areas has been neglected over the past years. But all hope is not lost. I have had the privilege of working with a number of community based activists in the Northern Areas as part of a civil society initiative where we identify with the help of the local communities issues that need resolving. We then use our networks to put pressure on the municipality and other authorities to resolve these issues. We’re basically doing the ward councillors job for them. And therein lies the possibility for real change. Elect councillors to the Council that make decisions in the interest of their constituents, not in the interests of some national political game or internal faction. And that’s why I truly believe that AIM is the vehicle and voice the residents of our metro need across the breadth of the city that will carry out the mandate from the people for the people. We are local people, focused on local issues with integrity as our middle name. AIM is the right choice to ensure the metro is managed with the integrity that’s required to reverse the rot of the past 12 or some odd years. We cannot keep on like this, change must come, my community deserves better.
