For at least one resident the City of Cape Town’s removal of trees in Welgemoed and surrounds has become too extreme.
Albert Hoenck, a resident, is furious after trees were removed from the green strip on the corner of Uys Krige and Jip de Jager Drive.
In a letter to TygerBurger, he says it feels as though the City was “hell-bent” on removing all invasive trees in the ward he lives in (Ward 70). “Are we going to rip all ‘alien’ trees out everywhere? Are we going to chop all eucalyptus trees along the golf course? Are we going to cut the oak trees down at Door de Kraal Dam or the poplar grove along Jip de Jager extension?”
Indigenous trees will take years to grow to the same height, he points out.
When Hoenck questioned City officials about this they told him the natural water run-off needed to be protected.
Hoenck says this reason isn’t good enough.
“Why do we try to protect the water run-off when it is not necessary as in the location mentioned? (The water runs into stormwater drains anyway, and according to the City they are overloaded.)”
Hoenck believes the City’s actions are going to turn the area into a naked grassland, instead of preserving beautifully established trees. “Our abundant trees are what makes Cape Town so beautiful,” he declared.
In reaction the City says it “has no intention to remove trees unnecessarily.”
Grey poplar trees (which are common along watercourses) are generally removed because national legislation requires this. “The City cannot oppose this,” a spokesperson said.
“In addition, water-and-sanitation teams found most of the poplar trees situated in the Elsieskraal River tributary/stormwater channel impeded stormwater flow and contributed to major erosion. These trees had to be removed to address this issue, which has resulted in an unsafe canyon with unstable side slopes.”
Other trees, especially oaks, are cut down if they’re infested with the Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer beetle. “There is no cure or remedy for this pest.”
Other than that, the City won’t remove trees without good reason, it says. This is experienced first hand by residents in Boston, who have been begging for the removal of trees that line certain roads and push up sidewalks, causing pedestrians to fall. These residents have lobbied for the removal of some of these trees for years to no avail. This is not an issue of indigenous trees being better than exotic trees, the City maintains.
“It is important to remember all trees offer the same benefits, whether exotic or indigenous,” the City’s spokesperson says.
“A tree is called ‘invasive’ only if declared so in terms of nemba (legislation). There are very few tree species ‘indigenous’ to the Western Cape; most of our street and garden trees originate from the summer-rainfall areas of the country; and therefore require watering in summer.”
The City says it encourages residents to plant trees suitable for their properties, indigenous or exotic.
