Was the much publicised recent ‘walk about’ through the streets of Whiteblocks, by ANC Cllr Patel and his shadow, Laudium CPF chairperson, Shaheen Wahab also of the ANC, just a publicity stunt?
These are the questions residents are asking, as crime and grime continues in the area. Many residents living in the area told the Laudium Sun that they were surprised when Patel posted on social media, that he and Wahab had walked through the streets of Whiteblocks, consulting with residents concerning crime and grime, as they were not even aware of two being in the area. In addition, residents say that they find it strange that despite the pair walking the streets in the area and now being aware of the problems first hand, there have still been no positive changes. Residents have expressed frustration, with drug dealing still continuing, people still living in unhygienic over-crowded conditions in back yards, filth still all over the pavements and faulty streetlights and street signs still needing attention. Some residents have even complained about a falling street sign, which they say has been in that position for years now, yet still not been attended to, after the alleged walkabout by the pair.
This follows residents of Green Ave, in Laudium, saying that they are tired of explaining directions to visitors, because the street name pole has been leaning for two years after being struck by a truck.
Maurin Govender of Green Ave, told the Laudium Sun, “We are really tired of constantly directing people wanting to visit us, many of whom get lost because they can’t easily find the street name. The street pole on Green Ave has been leaning for a long time. It looks like it’s about to fall. People can hardly see the street name, which causes a lot of confusion for visitors who come to our area. The Council really needs to fix it, especially because it’s dangerous. Sometimes people even try to steal the street name pole, especially those under the influence of nyaope. We are tired of reporting these kinds of issues to the Council, as we see no results. That’s why we hope that now that it’s appearing in the Laudium Sun, the Councillor will get a team to fix it. There are a lot of service delivery issues in our area. I know this may not seem like a major concern, but it invites crime and creates frustration. Street name poles are important, they represent the identity of the street and it’s the Council’s job to fix them.”
Saad Suji, also of Green Ave, told the Laudium Sun, “The street name pole has been leaning for about two years and no one has come to fix it. The Council needs to fix it urgently, before it gets stolen. I’m not exactly sure what happened to the pole or how it got damaged, but I believe it was hit by a truck about two years ago. Since then, it’s been leaning like this and no one has bothered to do anything about it.”
David Govender of Umber Street, told the Laudium Sun, “The condition of street name poles and stop signs in Laudium, especially in our area, is terrible. Even when people notice missing or damaged signs, they don’t report it and many drivers here don’t obey stop signs, which often leads to accidents. A major accident could happen if the Council does not fix these falling, misplaced, or missing street name poles and stop signs. I urge Councillor
Naeem Patel to treat this as an urgent matter and resolve it as soon as possible. If these issues are not addressed, it could create chaos and unnecessary problems for the community.”
*Attempts to get a comment from Cllr Patel were unsuccessful.