Overgrown, vacant lots have apparently facilitated housebreakings in Numbi Park this past festive season.
After committing an offence, criminals simply disappeared into the thick vegetation.
At least 32 cases of housebreakings in Numbi Park, near Hazyview, were reported between November and January.
The FF Plus feels that the Mbombela Local Municipality (Mbombela/Nelspruit, Barberton, Hazyview, Kaapschehoop, Skukuza, White River) should be held partly responsible for this.
The FF Plus's constant requests to the municipal parks board and local political leadership have fallen on deaf ears.
Numbi Park was a prestigious neighbourhood in its day, but after years of neglect by the Municipality the reserve roads have become so overgrown that large vehicles cannot make use of them.
Private, vacant lots and municipal parks are so overgrown that not even municipal officials are able to gain access to the parks.
This is because thick vegetation has caused problems with the roads' foundations.
In 2022, the Municipality approved a decision that would compel the owners of private, vacant lots to maintain them, or be fined if they fail to do so. Clearly, the decision has not been enforced.
This is also a problem in other areas in the Municipality, but the neglect and decay of Hazyview and its surrounding areas is a great cause for concern for residents.
The FF Plus demands that the Executive Mayor, Sibongile Makushe, must intervene at once.
Taxpayers deserve better than such neglect, which poses a serious threat to residents' safety.
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