Brackendowns Extention 5 ‘swamped’ by rats
Illegal dumping is what Brackendowns resident Marion Shear has to witness and endure every week from her house.
BRACKENDOWNS – Apart from the dumping, she has experienced a rat problem. The rats that live across at the dumping site make their way onto her property. Marion feels that the Extention 5 region is affected by the problem, because no one else who travels the main route (highway) gets to see this happening.
According to Marion, previous experiences related to break-ins could have been due to people who live near the dumping site and that people who may be living there could have used the broken wall to gain entry into the area and break into her house, which occurred twice in two months.
Numbers given to her by the EMM call centre, like 011 861 2152, just rings. She made many calls from Monday onwards: 011 999 2354 (engaged all the time); 011 999 2623 (just rings); CCA Manager number 011 999 2489 has an American accent. “Talk about being proudly South African with an American voice message system!” On the 0860 543 0009 call centre number someone answers and then gave 011 999 2173/2174 – the EMPD numbers do not work.
Police assisted Marion when she requested help, but she says it is not the responsibility of the police to interfere if the grounds belong to council. She does not want to intefere with people who are living there as it may be a threat to her.
Marion reported that an EMM representative from solid waste came and identified the problem, telling her that they were redirected to that route. She was informed that they will look into it, but that the problem won’t be resolved overnight.
The problem has been reported by Councillor Estelle Visser to the necessary EMM departments.
