Grahamstonian Thomas Stones has taken to the streets, 'planting' flower pots, traffic cones and even plants in potholes to raise awareness of the creeping rot in the municipality and to encourage people to take a positive stand to enact change.
Grahamstonian Thomas Stones has taken to the streets, 'planting' flower pots, traffic cones and even plants in potholes to raise awareness of the creeping rot in the municipality and to encourage people to take a positive stand to enact change.
He told Grocott's Mail that the brokenness of the city came to his attention when a water leak in Hill Street turned into a pothole. From then on he started noticing the many potholes around town.
He started a Facebook page where he highlights areas of concern, including buildings and infrastructure neglected by the municipality.
Stones said the water leak that shed light on the municipality's problems was repaired, but within six week it had to be repaired again, a situation he declared a waste of resources and money.
Municipal spokesperson Yoliswa Ramokolo told Grocott's Mail that they saw the cone that had a tree in it and the pothole was fixed. She added the problem is that the municipality does not have tar to fix potholes properly, so they are using gravel, which gets washed off when its raining, and then the problem starts again.
"Some of the roads around Makana are the responsibility of the Department of Roads and Public Works, but they are also facing a similar problem of not having tar," she said, adding that the municipality does also work on those areas.
Stone said he hopes to engage the public through his Facebook page and make them aware of the current state of the city. He encourages people who are able to do something to make a difference.
"If any of our employees, associates or friends from the township complain about bad service delivery, it is our duty to put it out in the public domain as well," he said.
"Instead of sitting down quietly I think all the problems should be put out there in the public domain and the person in charge of the department responsible for fixing the problem should be held accountable."
He hopes this will encourage citizens to act in a peaceful, non-violent way, "not where things need to be burnt, but rather a positive stand".
Stones said the public's response has been supportive, and many have told him that they also wanted to do this but were not bold enough to plant something or even say anything in public.
Check out Holey City Grahamstown on Facebook.
