Extended rains and favourable weather patterns have resulted in early growth spurts of vegetation across the city. Mowing is managed using a 40:60 ratio of in-house resources to external service providers. Unfortunately, due to delays in our procurement process, the City regrets to inform residents that there will be delays in grass cutting, although measures are in place to reduce the impact.
The City is currently responsible for maintaining thousands of hectares of grassed community parks, road reserves, green belts, cemeteries and public open spaces. As temperatures increase towards summer, a sudden flurry of growth is to be expected. Soil is still wet from winter rainfall and recent warmer days have created a favourable environment for vegetation growth and germination.
The Recreation and Parks Department has 12 mowing teams comprising of over one thousand staff members in total. They are employed as operators and workers assigned full time, equipped with vehicles and machinery to attend to grass cutting, weed control and tree maintenance. Working according to maintenance schedules, these internal resources provide 40% of the capacity needed to meet maintenance standards.
In order for the full service of mowing to be rendered, a hybrid model of internal teams together with appointed service providers is applied.
Service providers are appointed on a three-year cycle through tenders.
The department is currently experiencing delays in this process; however, measures have been put in place to provide the service using the available capacity, although it will be reduced (frequency of cutting) until full capacity is reinstated.
Grass cutting has therefore been prioritised in the following areas:
- Road Reserves and high profile through routes
- Cemeteries
- Service request complaints
- Community Parks and open spaces
- Undeveloped open spaces
A special mowing project team has developed a contingency plan for the six months starting 1 July 2022 – 31 December 2022.
Interim measures include:
- Revising schedules and adjusting the number of cuts. This will reduce the frequency of mowing in one area but increase the total number of areas that can be serviced.
- Allocating budget for staff to work overtime on Saturdays to meet service delivery targets.
- Prioritisation of major roads/ travel routes and emergency deployment to safety hotspots.
The City requests that residents remain in contact with their local ward councillors and Recreation and Parks area offices for the latest developments in their area, which will be communicated fortnightly.
Areas where vegetation poses a major safety risk due to poor visibility for motorists and increased incidents of crime/ vandalism can be escalated to RP.Enquiries@capetown.gov.za with the relevant C3 notification supplied.
Please note that delays are to be anticipated in resolving mowing related C3 notifications until such time we have full capacity.
