WORKING TOWARDS A CLEANER CAPITAL CITY

During the last financial year we prioritised waste management given the challenges we previously experienced.

These were significant challenges that dented the image of the city and also directly affected residents. Some of these challenges included waste removal, illegal dumping, and risks at the New England Road Landfill Site. Giving rise to these problems were shortages in yellow plant, communication challenges and at times internal challenges regarding the proper implementation of our waste management plan.

With our firm focus on resolving these issues we developed a turnaround strategy to deal systematically with the challenges. Although there are still challenges including the recent labour disruptions, there has been a visible, notable improvement. One of the key concerns is the lack of public education around waste management. For instance, proper communication and public education will ensure residents only leave their dirt outside at a particular time to ensure it is removed. Some residents continue taking their dirt outside for collection after the truck has left. Dumping and littering are also concerns that can be addressed through public education.

Last week’s strike over uniforms has disrupted our programme and for this period the city was visibly affected much to the dissatisfaction of residents.We have resolved this matter and issued new uniforms to waste management staff. However illegal, unprotected strikes are not only disruptive but unproductive. These are issues that should be resolved at a collective bargaining platform as all our staff are unionised. The agreements we reach with unions are collectively applied across municipalities and cannot be negotiated locally. We expect every staff member of Msunduzi to be at work because we are paying them to do their jobs.

Despite the significant challenges we have addressed the major issues of concern and the waste management plan is being implemented. Our turnaround strategy has allowed us to better manage the landfill site and although we are not at the level we aspire to attain, it is a work in progress with steady improvements.

We encourage our residents to play their role in recycling, adhering to the by-laws and assisting where possible in maintaining their verges and neighbourhoods. We are exploring the use of innovative technologies to extract energy from waste and hopefully will soon have another success story to share.

We have a constitutional duty to provide our residents with a clean, healthy city. We are the City of Choice and not the city of filth. I implore residents to work with us to restore pride to our beautiful city.