Cape Town - In among the rubble and dirt, bodies have turned up, the latest that of 6-year-old girl, dumped in what has become a dumping ground for killers.
Frustrated residents from in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain, said continual complaints to the City to clear the area have fallen on deaf ears.
Speaking out after a child playing in the area discovered the decomposed body of the child, resident Shanaaz Allie said the community could no longer keep quiet as the area had begun to take over the mantle of the killing fields of the notorious Station Strangler, who plagued Mitchells Plain from 1986 to 1994.
“This office can confirm that on Friday, April 30, 2021, at 6.55pm, Mitchells Plain police attended a complaint of a body that was found on the Swartklip sports field exposed in the bush. The body was in a decomposed state. The post-mortem report is currently awaited,” said police spokesperson André Traut.
Allie said: “We not only fear for our lives due to the high crime in this community, but also worry that our children will soon fall sick, because of the dirt they play in on the field, because the area has no recreational facilities for them to use.
“As concerned residents, we have tried to get through to the City to assist. We can only recall a one-time instance just after lockdown, when we had that field cleared. Since then, nothing has been done. If we don’t personally arrange with the little we have, our children will suffer, so we sacrifice.
“However, we can no longer live this way; we are demanding action be taken. The government needs to intervene before the situation escalates even further.”
Resident Nurjerhaan Singh said: “The community needs a working facility, not another liability. We don’t have much in terms of recreational facilities in this community, but if the government finally decides to step in and fix that mess, we can begin to plan for the future, for our children, women and youth.”
Despite the residents’ detailed claims of neglect, the area’s local councillor, Bongile Ngcani (ANC), said he was never notified about the complaints from his constituents.
Ngcani said he was working with residents from the area who formed a part of his ward committee, but that they had not brought the matter to his attention.
The City and the office of the Community Safety MEC were approached for comment, but both failed to respond.
