KNYSNA NEWS - A case has been opened with the Knysna police after a precast concrete wall forming part of the front of the post office in Main Road was vandalised, apparently on more than one occasion.
The case was lodged by a resident, who said the person/s who had vandalised the wall seemingly did so to gain access to an inside passageway where post boxes are located, to sleep there.
The wall is made up of layers of hollow blocks with patterned concrete designs that leave spaces through which the passageway can be seen.
Homeless people are at present again overnighting in front of the post office and the resident, who requested anonymity, surmised that one of them was hammering off pieces of the design in some of the blocks to create enough space to get into the passageway.
'Someone trying to get in'
Pointing to various broken pieces in the design, he said it looked as if the wall had been vandalised several times. "Someone is trying to get in to sleep here," he said.
In April, residents complained on numerous occasions about the litter and personal items homeless people were leaving in front of the post office after overnighting there.
Knysna-Plett Herald then sent a request for comment about the litter complaints to the municipality.
After this, a resident said municipal police had reportedly been preventing homeless people from sleeping in front of the building, and that street cleaners had been cleaning the entire area.
On Monday morning, 19 May, a pile of rubbish was dumped on a platform at the entrance to the post office.
Municipality's response
In response to a query on the dumped rubbish, the municipality said: "The area in front of the post office has been identified by our street cleaning team as one of the recurring problem zones within the CBD.
As part of our commitment to maintaining a clean and welcoming urban environment, the municipality's street-cleaning team performs a daily clean-up programme in this space.
"However, as this location falls under private ownership, it remains the responsibility of the property owner to ensure that it does not become an environmental nuisance.
"The municipality will be contacting the owner to request that they take ownership in maintaining the space and implement a regular cleaning programme."
The police have been asked to comment on the vandalism, and when a response is received, it will be published.
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