Not even being caught in the middle of a would-be gunfight could deter Carmen Siebritz, councillor for Ward 63, from returning to a site in Fairways which was in serious need of a clean-up.
Starting at 06:00 on Monday 5 December, Siebritz, together with the City of Cape Town’s Solid Waste (Cleansing) and Recreation and Parks departments, Law Enforcement, police and Subcouncil 20 chair Xanthea Limberg, were at Southfield Bridge, mucking up the mess that had accumulated there over the past few years.
The bridge is being used by unscrupulous people as an illegal dumping ground for all kinds of waste, despite a no-dumping sign having been placed at the entrance to the site.
Several structures have also been erected among the waste under the bridge.
Siebritz says the conditions underneath the bridge, which borders Plumstead Preparatory School, poses a serious health risk.
“It’s inhumane to live in such appalling conditions,” she says.
Siebritz says she has noticed that the public tend to use it as a thoroughfare between Fairways, Parkwood, Southfield and Plumstead.
“This is a further risk as Metrorail trains operate underneath this bridge. There is no fencing.”
The site’s location – which falls between two policing precincts – also makes it difficult to patrol.
Siebritz says, due to its limited access (the area can only by accessed via a footpath and 4×4 vehicles), poor to no night lighting under the bridge and the railway tracks, criminals use the site as a “quick getaway” route. Adding to this perfect storm of criminal opportunity was the overgrown grass at the site which further limited visibility.
Recognising the danger the site holds for “the ordinary citizen passing by”, Siebritz took the initiative to arrange a clean-up of the area. Little did she know that she too would find herself under threat when she organised and attended a planning meeting with subcouncil members at the site.
On Thursday 10 November, Siebritz, Limberg and Subcouncil 20 manager Richard White were standing at the entrance of the site, waiting for law enforcement to accompany them inside.
Siebritz says the purpose of the meeting was to assess which departments would be needed for the clean-up.
While standing there, Siebritz started talking to a displaced woman who she had met a week earlier during a patrol with the Fairways Neighbourhood Watch.
At their first meeting, the councillor had offered the young woman assistance to a shelter and a rehabilitation programme. She subsequently set up an appointment with a social worker, however, the woman failed to show.
Siebritz says it was while she was talking to the woman when a man came running past.
“She called on him but he continued running. Within less than a minute there were two groups approaching – one lot were crossing over the bridge and the other from under the bridge.”
Siebritz says within a split-second guns were pulled. She shouted at her colleagues to run and they jumped into their cars and drove away. “Everything happened within a flash and off we went.”
Siebritz says although the incident left her shaken, nothing could deter her from doing what was needed to create a cleaner and safer environment. Hence her return.
“I returned knowing that I have about 20 000 residents who needed the assurance that their local ward councillor would do all that she could in her power to make it better even if she couldn’t do so overnight. As the saying goes, Rome was not built in one day,” she says.
Siebritz thanked the City departments as well as the police and law enforcement for their advice, guidance and support during the the operation. “I’m of the opinion that we now need to keep our fingers on the pulse by maintaining the partnerships between the different agencies and departments in order to avoid square one,” she says.
