政府の汚職・腐敗がよく批判される南アですが、最も本質的な問題は「自分さえよければいい」というジコチューな国民にあるのでは？
ヨハネスブルグでもっとも人気のある公園の1つ、Zoo Lakeの年次総会報告を読んでそんなことを考えました。
ゴミ炭ポイ捨て、犬放し飼い 警察は見て見ぬふり
この公園には毎週末、たくさんの市民が時にはミニバスやバスで訪れてBraaiを楽しんでいます。ところが、このマナーが最悪。指定場所以外では火を起こしてはいけないことになっているのですが、そんなことはお構いなし、さらにひどいのがゴミでゴミ箱が設置されているのに食べたらその場でポイ、ポイ、ポイ……。
周辺住民（主に富裕層）はこれに眉をひそめており、週末は人手の少ない早朝を除いてZoo Lakeには近づきません。
ところが年次総会の報告によると、周辺住民にも犬の散歩で減点があるようで、どっちもどっちかな、と。無補償の土地収用を巡るアンケートが示した自己中心的なメンタリティがこんなところにも現れています。
汚職・腐敗は自己中心的な考え方の帰結。「政府は国民を映す鏡」と考えると、ある意味今が南アの「あるべき姿」なのかもしれません。
ゴミ：公園のゴミ箱が常に不足していることは事実。ただし、仮に100万個のゴミ箱が配備されたとしても、夜間にゴミ箱をひっくり返して放ったらかしにする事案は解決されない（加えて、そもそもゴミのポイ捨てが多すぎる）。
治安：ヨハネスブルグ市警（JPMD）が治安維持の役目を担うが、イベント時などは法の維持に消極的になる（面倒くさいんだろうな……）。
犬：犬の散歩時はリード利用が法律で定められているにも関わらず、守られていない。糞も放置（地域の富裕層も自己中ってこと）。
火災：Braaiをした人が木の根っこに熱い炭を捨てる。JPMDはこれを指導すべき立場も放置（常識で考えればダメだということがわからないのかな？）。
以下、年次総会報告の原文です。
1. Litter
This is a daily problem and especially over the weekends. The City does provide a litter picking service and depending on the amount of litter, they either clean up quickly or within a few hours. There are never enough bins but whether we have millions of bins or not regrettably the displaced people empty the bins at night and certainly don’t put back the rubbish into the bins. How does one educate the users about removing their litter and take pride in using Zoo Lake. The City do not have the personnel to walk around educating the users and until we can get our Master plan put in place regrettably this will be a daily problem and concern, as well as the recyclers and the displaced persons.
2. Security
We would dearly love to have a 24/7 Security team to assist us with By-Law enforcement and security. Regrettably until we can obtain sustainable funding this area remains a major concern for us. Regrettably even when JMPD are in the Park over the weekends and at special events they appear to be reluctant to enforce the By-Laws. I have escalated this concern to the ‘Powers to be” but again without the personnel and regular educational programs these issues remain a concern. With the change in shift hours for JMPD from 6a.m. to 6p.m. they are no longer clearing the park at 6p.m. and the users are now remaining in the park until after 8p.m. Another concern that I have addressed with JMPD.
3. Dogs
Dog walkers appear to be reluctant about keeping their dogs on leads and picking up the poo…… even though the signage and By-Laws state only dogs on leads etc…. until we have the proper security this remains a problem. We have yellow dog poo bins but regrettably they are not used for dog poo and need a good coat of paint and new signage which we are hoping to get done with Community hours.
4. Storm Water Drain
That area has now been cleared and we are waiting for JRA to erect a brand new fence. We are hoping that once that area has a new fence and the storm water cleaned and repaired that area will no longer be a concern and security risk.
5. Fire Hazard
The users to the Park put their hot coals at the base of the trees when braaing outside the designated braai area. This is a concern for us as not only are the trees being damaged but a fire can start up at any time as they leave their coals smouldering at the base of the trees and we have already lost a few trees because of this and falling on people. JMPD are supposed to enforce the By-Laws with regard to no braaing outside of the designated area and put out the fires but regrettably this is erratic. The reeds are also set on fire next to the bowls club by the displaced people which is another fire risk.
Projects in the pipeline :
1. Erosion project around the Lake:
We have put a proposal together to launch this project during October / November and are waiting for approval from the City Parks to take this further. A press release will be issued with all details once the JCPZ give us the go-ahead.
2. Maintenance:
We do weekly site visits and report back to JCPZ on areas that need attention and assist where we can.
3. Proposed Master Plan:
We are in the process of engaging with all the relevant stakeholders and are making great progress and hopefully by the end of the year we will be in a position to take our creative ideas further. We do believe that this is the only way that we will be able to get Zoo Lake back to where it should be and to be the “Central Park” of Johannesburg which will be a great asset to Johannesburg and to enhance the Zoo Lake Precinct.
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