Cato Manor - The informal settlements in Cato Manor are infested with rodents and they can’t be trapped.
This emerged during the Ian Player-Magqubu Ntombela lecture under the theme, The impact of urban rats and rodent-borne diseases in our City, which was hosted by the city as part of Parks Recreation and Culture week.
It was revealed that no rats were caught by the 10 gadgets put in place in the area because the rodents were bigger than the traps.
Head of Parks and Recreation Thembinkosi Ngcobo said overcrowding at the settlement was one of the reasons rats were attracted to the area.
“We discovered the traps are too small to catch the rats which had become big,” said Ngcobo.
“Cato Manor has a huge
problem with rats, because the area is dirty, waste management is not properly done, and the residents
also take out waste from their
home even before the collection date,” he said.
Conservationist Dr Leigh Richards led discussions on the subject of urban infestation and the social impact that it carried.
She looked at the mitigating methods that could be adopted to improve sanitation, educate the community and control rodent infestation in communities such as Cato Manor.