Pretoria - The City of Tshwane’s poorly maintained parks are becoming dodgy places that enable crime, illegal dumping and unwanted fires, said parents who feared for their children’s safety.
Parents and youth residing in the city said they feared for their children’s safety every time they went to the parks because there were drug dealers roaming around and unwanted homeless people who made the parks their homes.
In Sunnyside and Arcadia, they said overgrown grass and illegal dumping made the parks look abandoned and that subsequently allowed homeless people to sleep in them and make fires at night.
Young people at Jacaranda Park in Sunnyside said the park was neglected so much that other kinds of vegetation started growing between the grass, while the park’s lights have been out for while.
Daniel Okafor was found watching his daughter as she played in the small park near the Sunnyside swimming pool in Jorissen Street.
He said: “This place is not safe but because we live in flats and our children have to play, we don’t have a choice. I have to sit like this and watch her play. You can see there are some homeless guys sleeping just nearby and another group using drugs acting as if they don’t see us.
“We would like all the other parks to be maintained and kept up to standard like Jubilee Park and the Springbok Park. Those ones are very nice and clean but they are far for some of us,”
Spokesperson for the City Lindela Mashigo said: We apologise for the inconvenience. We encourage residents to take their gripes to their ward councillors so that they may be reported and dealt with accordingly.
"In terms of the illegal elements and the homeless sleeping in the parks, residents are urged to report incidents to the city's metro police department and the police."