A PLAYGROUND is set to be built in q, Motherwell, by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, in a bid to provide safer play areas for children and to prevent them from playing on dangerous structures such as electrical pylons.
Ward 54 councillor, Morgan Tshaka, said three out of four areas in his ward had playgrounds.
He further said NU30 was a new area as people were moved from various areas in Motherwell to NU30 as part of the municipality’s relocation process to place them in safer areas.
Tshaka said because the focus had been on providing homes for the residents in NU30, a playground has unfortunately not yet been constructed for children to make use of.
“There was previously no money to construct a playground area in NU30, but I reported the issue to the municipality, and they are currently working on a project to build a playground soon,” said Tshaka.
The urgency for a safe playground grew bigger when four children died after allegedly consuming a toxic substance on a dumping area in NU30 in January.
Recently, children have been seen playing on electrical pylons.
“On multiple occasions I have told the children in the area to not play on the electrical pylons because it is dangerous, but they do not always listen to me,” said Tshaka.
He further said no one was to blame for the children playing on the electrical pylons but he believed it was the community’s responsibility to make sure that the children did not play in such dangerous areas.
“We have to work together to keep the children safe and away from electrical pylons,” said Tshaka.
He said while the playground area in NU30 still needed to be constructed, he recommended children make use of the playgrounds in NU29 and NU11 which are close by. According to municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki, R3.7 million had been allocated to NU29 and NU30 this financial year.
“The development of the two parks in NU29 and NU30 is in progress and will be completed by the end of the quarter,” said Mniki.
