The course of true love never did run smooth, wrote William Shakespeare in his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
It seems neither does the mowing of public open spaces, road reserves and cemeteries in Ward 62. With about 20% of the work still incomplete at the Constantia Valley Greenbelts, the City of Cape Town appointed mowing contractor “was pulled from all sites and given an order to stop operations”.
Emile Langenhoven, councillor for Ward 62, shared this news with People’s Post last week, saying that there had been a forensic investigation into the mowing contractor after he received a mowing schedule of completed work from the City’s administration in December last year. After feedback from residents, it became clear that the schedule was not accurate.
“The results of the investigation will be released in an official statement from the City administration. As of (Wednesday) 19 January, the contractor has been pulled from all sites and given an order to stop operations. This leaves parks and recreation in a difficult position to complete the work that had not been completed on time or satisfactorily by the contractor,” says Langenhoven.
According to an update the councillor received from the department of parks and recreation on Tuesday 18 January, the mowing of Alphen, Diep River, Bel Ombre, Silverhurst (still a small section to be completed) and Doordrift had been done, with grass piles still needing to be removed from some of these areas. Last week, the contractor was meant to tackle Pagasvlei, Sillery and Wolwekloof.
“If all goes according to plan, we should be up to date by end of this week, all the parks are completed. Once we are done with the greenbelts, we will finish off the M3 and cut the cemeteries,” the update read.
However, Langenhoven says, due to the decision to stop the contractor one day after the update was sent, all this may likely change.
“I have received a commitment from parks and recreation that the internal staff will work weekends to complete the outstanding work,” he says.
People’s Post first reported on the backlog in the mowing of the Constantia Valley Greenbelts in December last year.
At the time, Colin Walker, chair of the Friends of the Constantia Valley Greenbelts (FOCVG), said most of the greenbelts and the road verges of public open spaces were overgrown and an eyesore.
According to Walker, the mowing was meant to take place in September. He held the City’s convoluted mowing tender process responsible for the delay.
When People’s Post checked with Walker last week, he said many of the greenbelts had been done during the first two weeks of January.
“Even if the quality control is poor and they were messily done, I can confirm that Alphen, Doordrift, and Bel Ombre have been done. Klaassenbosch is not done and still looks a mess. I can’t confirm on the others,” said Walker.
Patricia van der Ross, Mayco member for community services and health, says mowing activities in Ward 62 commenced the week of 20 December last year.
“Currently, 80% of the work is complete at greenbelts with grass piles to be removed. Sections that are scheduled to be mowed in the following weeks are Klaassenbosch trail, Southern Cross Drive, Sillery, Parish Cemetery, Alphen Common and Nirvana Park,” she says.
Addressing the delay, Van der Ross says the department works according to a departmental directive regarding mowing during spring which suspended mowing activities from July to November to allow for the spring flowers to seed and blossom.
Areas within the directive for Ward 62 include Ladies Mile Road, Alphen Common, Alphen Greenbelt, Spaanchemat Greenbelt, Grootboschkloof, Bel Ombre, Diep River, Wolwekloof, Klaassenbosch, Silverhusrt, Sillery and Pagasvlei.
She adds that, in addition, the mowing tender expired mid-October last year, which subsequently resulted in a three-week delay due to the administrative processes associated with the extension of a tender.
“Above normal rainfall was also experienced during this particular period which, in effect, contributed to the rapid growth. The department is doing its utmost to have mowing complaints resolved and is making good progress in reducing the backlog. We apologise for the inconvenience caused,” says Van der Ross.
