AfriForum’s branch in Bethlehem cleans up after Dihlabeng Municipality
AfriForum’s Bethlehem branch did the Dihlabeng Local Municipality’s dirty work on their behalf last week when the organisation undertook a clean-up project where the Municipality had failed to do it themselves. The project follows after the Municipality opened blocked drains in Thompson Street, Eureka, four weeks ago and left the soil excavated during this process on residents’ sidewalks.
The regular rains in Bethlehem have resulted in the piles of soil on the sidewalks washing back into the drains, causing further blockages. Desperate residents have approached AfriForum for help, as the soil has made it difficult for them to enter and leave their properties.
AfriForum consequently began removing the soil on 2 April. Only after AfriForum began the clean-up process the Municipality finally began to clean up the area on 8 April.
“The community can still understand if excavated soil is left behind for a day or two before it is removed. However, leaving it there for weeks is not only unsightly and inconvenient for residents, but also causes drains to clog again and makes the initial work useless,” says Christa Ikking, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for the Highlands.
Although there has already been a noticeable improvement in Bethlehem’s aesthetics, there is still a lot of decay and a ‘tomorrow is another day’ mentality. The improvement that is visible in the town can largely be attributed to a community that decided to intervene themselves. This is not a victory for the Municipality, but rather proof of a well-organised community that is already heavily burdened by services and taxes but refuses to leave their town to decay.
