After 15 years of asking Buffalo City Metro to erect speed bumps in Griffin and Morrison roads in Cambridge West, nothing has been done, and speeding cars are a constant danger to toddlers attending daycare centres in a street notorious for accidents.
Two distraught child carers have accused BCM of putting the lives of children at risk by not erecting speed bumps. Care and Share Educare’s manager in Griffin Road, Sandi Cronje, said their pleas for speed bumps began 15 years ago.
“We have applied and did petitions, still nothing. We have had a child knocked over and a few other accidents,” she said.
Cronje said a man was hit by a car at the weekend.
Cronje said people drove recklessly and exceeded the speed limit, with no regard for the children.
“Normally when they [motorists] come past the educare they need to slow down but because they are ignorant, they don’t,” she said.
“We have tried BCM so many times but now we have given up.
“The only thing they did is put two-way stops further up the road, [but] it’s too far from the creche [to make any difference].”
Tons of Fun Educare owner Cary-Ann Mason said they had applied several times for the erection of speed bumps in Morrison Road, to no avail.
“We did petitions, we even went to former mayor BCM Zukiswa Ncitha but nothing came out of it.
“Morrison Road is a very long road. The one speed bump is near the park, which is far from the school,” Mason said.
“In the morning you can see them [motorists] overtaking one another at full speed. It’s scary.”
To ensure the safety of the children, a staffer at Tons of Fun Educare stands at the roadside to take the kids from their parents and into the school gates each morning. “We don’t want another child to get injured before the speed bumps could be erected.”
Despite Mason and Cronje’s litany of attempts to get BCM’s attention, metro spokeswoman Bathandwa Diamond said the unit responsible for constructing speed humps had no record of them, or any applications from the concerned residents about the matter.
“We will investigate, however, and if the road meets the warrant it will be put onto our list for construction of speed humps.
“With regards to a timeframe, we cannot tell as the funds in this financial year have already been committed to other projects,” she said. — zikhonam@dispatch.co.za
By ZIKHONA MOYIKWA – DispatchLIVE
