GQEBERHA, South Africa: Ant problems in Gqeberha start picking up from spring and normally get much worse as we move into summer, especially after the first rains. An analysis of anonymised True Clean pest control records found that 89% of ant-related invoices were issued between October and April, with 68% falling between December and March. From January to March, ant treatments made up roughly one in four pest control invoices. The records included customers from at least 13 areas across Gqeberha. Diederik Visser from True Clean says the numbers line up closely with what the company sees every year. “We normally notice the first increase around spring, especially after the first rains. Sometimes it even starts just before the rain. But by the end of October we usually start seeing a big increase in ant calls.” One of the most common complaints is ants in the kitchen. “Most people phone us because they suddenly have ants all over the kitchen. I actually helped a client with that again recently. In an established house it can become a yearly problem.” According to Visser, ants can be difficult to control long term because the colony is often hidden somewhere the homeowner cannot see. They may be inside wall cavities, under paving, around window frames or in the soil around the house. The ants walking across the kitchen counter can be only a small part of a much larger colony. DIY ant sprays can still help, especially when the problem is small. “There is nothing wrong with spraying ants yourself. It can definitely help. The problem is that people sometimes think because the ants disappeared for a few days, the whole problem is gone.” Ant colonies can also react when they are disturbed. “If a colony feels like it is under attack, there is a chance it can break up and form smaller satellite colonies. Then you can end up with ants coming from a few different places instead of one.” For professional treatments, the approach depends …
Gqeberha Rug Cleaning Demand Doubles, Says True Clean
Gqeberha - Loose rug cleaning has grown from about 9% to 21% of True Clean's monthly revenue in under a year, according to the Sydenham-based carpet cleaning and pest control company's invoice data for October 2025 to August 2026. The line peaked near 30% in July, the middle of winter, when wall-to-wall carpet work is normally quiet. True Clean, founded in 2014, now runs a separate off-site rug plant with a shaker machine for dry soil removal, which has improved the turnaround and the overall clean of the rugs. "People used to shake a rug out on the stoep, wash it with a bucket and brush and sunlight, and call it done," says Diederik Visser, owner of True Clean, who has cleaned carpets for 17 years, 12 of them in Gqeberha. "What's changed is that more homeowners treat a Persian or a wool rug the way they're supposed to, sending it out once or twice a year for a professional clean. Also times are tough and preserving what you have is cheaper than buying new." How does rug cleaning work in Gqeberha? True Clean collects loose rugs from homes across the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, cleans them at its plant in Sydenham, and delivers them back in 3 to 5 business days. Each rug goes through a shaker machine first to drop out the dry soil a vacuum leaves behind. Then it gets a rug-specific pre-spray, a wash, a rinse and a dry, and then another vacuuming before it goes back. Customers can also drop rugs off at 23 Esseln Circuit, or book an on-site clean for rugs that cannot be moved. The longer turnaround is deliberate. "We get fewer call-backs on a rug that's dried properly over a few days than on one rushed back the same afternoon," says Visser. "Clients read the wait as us doing the job properly, and the results back that up." Why is demand growing now? Part of it is repeat behavior. Rug clients come back far more often than once-off carpet clients do. Word of mouth has spread across the metro. "Mainly social media exposure educating people on our rug dusting …