Disabled woman’s fight against trash
Despite Buffalo City Metro’s plea to residents to not take out refuse amid the recent workers’ strike, Bongiwe Sangqu of Heaven Hills in Amalinda said residents in her area had piled up rubbish in front of her home.
Sangqu, who uses crutches to walk due to a disability, said it was difficult for her to even lift up her own refuse, yet people would take refuse from their houses and dump them near her home.
“The rubbish has piled up so bad that I no longer open my windows because of the smell,” she said.
“Sometimes I would ask people who are looking for jobs in the street, to come help me clean up the area and I would pay them.”
Sangqu said this was not the first time people had dumped rubbish in front of her home. It happened before during a similar strike back in 2014.
“I humbly requested all my neighbours to put their refuse next to their yards. I think they only did that for a week or two and then brought it back to where they used to put it.
“I asked the municipality to put a ‘No Dumping’ sign near my house, but the sign soon disappeared. In fact, they did not care about the sign as they continued their dumping while the sign was there.”
Sangqu, who bought her house in Heaven Hills in 2010, said she was pleading with the municipality to step in and help as the dumpsite next to her yard was affecting her directly. “I am not the only corner house around, but I’m the only house that has garbage dumped outside.
“I also request the municipality to do something about this open space next to my house and another sign to be put firmly near the tar road,” she said.
“I am also pleading with my neighbours to put their refuse near their gates as this dumping in front of my home attracts everyone that passes by to dump even more if it is piling up in one place.”