By Daanyaal Matthews

The Parkwood community has been embroiled in the smell of faeces after continuous defecation at the local canal by vagrants. This has prompted a response from the community, specifically the Jabulani Feeding and Learning Centre, to call on the City of Cape Town to do a clean-up of the canal for the betterment of the community. While the City of Cape Town has responded, their response was met with the presence of criminality as local gangsters attacked City of Cape Town personnel, resulting in a suspension of clean-up activities.

Speaking on Sunday Live, Yasmine Abrahams, founder of the Jabulani Feeding and Learning Centre, has both applauded the City of Cape Town for their response and acknowledged the lack of security that has hindered operations.

“The safety is important, and the city knows that, because every time the people work, there is law enforcement or community members sitting there, but we were not informed. So, I understand why people ran away, but then, the next day, I saw the decay originating from the canal hindering households.”

The founder of the community NPO further states that due to this hindrance, her organisation has had to undertake the job of the city in cleaning up the canal by rallying local community members towards assisting and asking the local government to remove vagrants causing the stench, stating:

“So, I asked the local youngsters to clean up, but I want the law enforcement to come and remove the individuals under the bridge. They are abusing drugs, defecating, and dirtying up the canal. I had to ask the local youngsters to assist with the clean-up.”

The community leader has also implored the city to employ local vagrants to assist in clean-up activities by employing them.

“Why is it that the city cannot employ individuals to clean up the mess? They don’t need to provide a salary but a mere stipend because somebody has to clean up the mess. Even though they are drug users, they will not work for free,” says the founder of Jabulani Feeding and Learning Centre.

Yasmine continues by arguing that local community members cannot undertake the work that is to be undertaken by the local government, as it is not financially sustainable for either the NPO or community members.