Tshwane promises better verge tree upkeep after Pretoria resident’s wall damaged

The Tshwane metro said it will step up maintenance of verge trees after revealing more than 10 incidents over the past year in which municipal trees in Centurion damaged property. This follows an incident on March 2 in Eldoraigne, when a large tree on Frederik Avenue split and a heavy branch fell onto a homeowner’s boundary wall at about 18:30. The tree had previously been reported to the municipality as a potential hazard.

Ward 69 councillor Cindy Billson said a substantial portion of the tree fell into a resident’s property and that she had repeatedly raised concerns about the tree’s deteriorating condition. “I have been reporting to the municipality that there’s a possibility this tree could fall, but they didn’t remove it. Now this has happened, and it’s very frustrating,” she said.

Some debris was cleared shortly afterwards. “Some of the branches that fell and blocked the neighbour’s garage were removed on the night of the incident,” Billson added. Homeowner Jacob van den Raad said the fallen branch damaged his electric fence, which sits above his boundary wall.

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He said he had previously reported the tree’s condition to the ward councillor and submitted requests to the municipality, but no action was taken. “The fallen portion of the tree has been removed, but the rest of the tree is still standing,” he said. Van den Raad confirmed the tree stands on the municipal verge beside the road.

“The tree is situated outside my yard on the municipal verge. I even offered to remove the tree myself because it affects my wall, but the city insisted they would handle it,” he said. He noted that a creeper running along the boundary wall made it difficult to assess any further damage, but expressed relief that nobody was injured.

Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the municipality had received a complaint about the tree on August 18, 2025, and that municipal teams had assessed the situation. “Complaints were received for two trees. One of the trees was removed, but for the other tree, only branches were trimmed due to the unavailability of a long cherry picker,” he said.

He advised residents in similar situations to follow the city’s procedures for damage claims. Residents should complete a claim form and submit supporting documents; the claim will then be sent to the city’s insurance broker for assessment and finalisation. Mashigo also confirmed that more than 10 similar incidents involving municipal verge trees damaging property had been reported in the Centurion area over the past year.

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