Richards Bay businesses fume over party mess
Several parking areas outside shopping centres and business park premises have become gathering points for the public late in the afternoons and overnight to socialise and consume alcohol
THE aftermath of drunken parties in the parking lots in and around the Richards Bay central business district has left businesses fuming.
Several parking areas outside shopping centres and business park premises have become gathering points for the public late in the afternoons and overnight to socialise and consume alcohol.
One business employee at Partridge Place said the area has become an ‘an open pub’, with people consuming alcohol, urinating in public, littering and selling drugs.
‘Our safety is being compromised and often we have to run out of the office to move our vehicles because crowds of people gather around our cars.
‘We are also forced to drive over broken glass bottles and mounds of litter.
‘The area is not being cleaned and when it rains we have to walk through a stream of water from the car park to the paving area, as the grass is overgrown around this area and the drains are blocked with litter.
‘Drugs are sold openly from vehicles daily in these parking bays and I believe that if the police and traffic officers do random checks they can make arrests and issue fines for all the by-law violations taking place here,’ the employee said.
Last week the City of uMhlathuze confirmed it was at the stage of gazetting the public drinking by-law which will give it powers to act.
The municipality last week conducted an area based management (ABM) programme in Richards Bay central to tackle public drinking, littering, urinating in public spaces, general filth, water leakages and compliance matters.
The cleaning of drains, removal of weeds on road verges, illegal water and electricity connections also received attention.
Residents are encouraged to report service delivery defects such as water leaks, power outages and illegal dumping to 035 9075000 or 0800 222 827.
For any fraud and corruption activities, call the whistleblower hotline 0800 000843.
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