Sheribeen Amlay, Simon’s Town
I run the Heritage Museum in Simon’s Town. The museum is about the people who were forcibly removed and displaced from Simon’s Town by the dreaded apartheid government and dumped in crime-infested Ocean View.
We have a problem where buses, fishing trailers and just about any truck or car park in front of the entrance as it has a buses-only sign painted outside the entrance.
My aunt, who used to run the museum, has complained to the council and councillors for years about this sign, but because we are non-white, they have never taken notice.
Whenever we get visitors and the parking areas are full, they would rather leave and hopefully come back another day.
It’s frustrating because the buses stand for sometimes three hours blocking the entrance, and passengers can see living quarters upstairs. This upsets my family as they are old and frail now.
We don’t mind if the tour buses park there and their passengers visit the museum, but as soon as they finish their lunch on the square or harbour they leave. The tour guides are full of nonsense sometimes telling us that they have a right to park there and they don’t have time for non-important visits.
• Ward councillor Simon Liell-Cock responds: We are sad to hear about this frustrating situation, but it must be noted that the parking bays have been outside this property since 2009. The private museum operates within a building that belongs to the Public Works Department.
In the past 12 years, I, as the councillor, have only received one complaint from the property on this matter. It must be noted that tour buses cannot park on the Main Road, and there are only a few spaces in Simon’s Town where buses and fishing boats can exit the Main Road, park, turn around and access the Main Road again.
However, I have engaged with the City’s transport officials, and we are assessing the situation for possible reconfiguration of the parking bays in Lower Jubilee Square.