SOME roads in the East London suburbs of Cambridge and Southernwood are in dire need of refurbishment.
Reporters from the GO! & Express drove to see for themselves after receiving complaints from the community about the state of the roads.
An angry resident, Ellen Ettinger, said she had sent several e-mails to the municipality, giving a detailed description of the state of the roads, as well as problems with illegal dumping.
The GO! & Express visited Tapson Street to assess the situation, where cars were seen swerving to avoid patches of dirt road – with some even swerving into oncoming traffic.
According to Ettinger, the street had been in that condition for quite some time. “There’s other areas around the city that have bad roads. St Peter’s Road in Southernwood near Malcomess Park has sink holes,” she said.
The GO! & Express has seen the e-mails sent to the municipality’s road maintenance branch and to the city’s executive mayor. But Ettinger’s claims seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
Previously, the GO! & Express reported on the state of the municipality’s cemeteries (“Buried in the long grass”, May 17 2018).
At the time of going to print, the East Cemetery at Buffalo Park had long grass and broken headstones. The cemetery has since been cleaned and grass cut.
A source who remained anonymous says the Cambridge cemetery has been receiving a clean-up for the past two weeks. Though the progress is evident with one being able to see gravestones are visible again, there must still be a lot of ground covered. The municipality was not available for comment at the time of going to print.
EDIT: The municipality has responded to the clean-up in the city’s cemeteries, stating that it began in June. BCMM spokeswoman, Bathandwa Diadond said that cemeteries in West Bank, East Bank and Cambridge in the East London area have benefited. The King William’s Town area, in particular; Steve Biko, Ilitha and King William’s Town have commenced.
“BCMM has implemented a Blitz turnaround strategy to reduce the backlog within all cemeteries. The program has initially started with the intention of restoring dignity and pride within all Municipal Cemeteries throughout BCMM,” said Diamond.
