Filth piles up in townships
Trollip accused of breaking promise of regular refuse collections
NELSON Mandela Bay townships are filthy, with some residents saying mayor Athol Trollip has broken his promise of weekly refuse collections in every community. Ripped refuse bags, takeaway containers and soiled nappies are just some of the rubbish lining the streets of townships.
In Trollip’s first mayoral speech on August 18, he said: “We will ensure that weekly refuse collection is rolled out in every community ... and litter is picked up. We will make our metro clean again.”
Four months down the line, a visit to townships in Rosedale, Greenfield, KwaLanga, Windvogel and Walmer revealed a grim scene of squalor.
Walmer Township businessman Thulani Somdaka said he did not know which day the municipality collected rubbish as its timing was inconsistent.
“This is bad for my business because I sell food. Sometimes the rubbish bags are piled on the streets for three weeks. We never know when they pick it up.”
Somdaka, 30, who runs a fast-food outlet, said the promise by Trollip had not been fulfilled.
“The streets are still dirty and the municipality is not doing anything. All these politicians make empty promises. They are [all] the same,” he said.
“The municipal refuse truck last came here in November.”
But Lungiswa Bell, a director of the Sondla Sonke cooperative, said they had been collecting refuse in Walmer since being hired by the municipality.
“The only thing that makes Walmer dirty is illegal dumping. We clear up the dumps but the next day people start dumping again. We don’t have enough resources to keep it clean,” Bell said.
She said her cooperative had a monthto-month contract with the municipality to collect refuse, sweep the streets and trim the grass edges in the township.
At Rosedale in Uitenhage, the situation is the same.
Resident Falencia Samuels, 37, said the refuse trucks had only been to collect rubbish four times since Trollip’s promise.
“The one time we actually saw the refuse truck and asked them to pick up the rubbish, they said they were not working.”
She said the erratic refuse collection led to people dumping their rubbish illegally.
“Children play in the rubbish and it can be seriously dangerous,” Samuels said.
In KwaLanga, resident Thimna Sweli, 17, said many people were not even aware of their scheduled refuse time.
She said the refuse truck normally came once a month.
“But when the refuse truck does come people are often not around. You don’t know when and where to take your rubbish these days,” Sweli said.
Siphokazi Feli, 47, of Greenfield, said it was a nightmare living on her street.
“There are huge rats here that destroy our clothes, blankets and our groceries. We have cockroaches that flood the house once we switch off the lights,” she said.
“It is a nightmare, our kids cannot play outside because of the dumping behind the houses.”
Some residents said the erratic service led to illegal dumping which made the situation worse.
Bethelsdorp businessman Issy Jegels, 65, who runs a vehicle repair shop, said people dumped their rubbish and construction rubble everywhere.
“Our townships are dirty and it is getting worse. If you ask them not to throw away stuff, they are rude and swear at you,” he said.
Jegels said he had sent the municipality e-mails with pictures but had no response.
Asked what he thought of Trollip’s promise, he said: “I don’t think he has broken his promise. It is the people that throw rubbish in illegal dumps.
“Our refuse is now collected weekly, it used to be once in two weeks. Things cannot happen overnight and we cannot blame the DA or the ANC for illegal dumping.”
While municipal spokesman Mthubanzi Mniki insisted the city did collect refuse in the townships every week, deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani admitted a backlog of refuse collection had accumulated following a strike by waste management workers.
Refuse collection staff downed tools just after the new administration took office in August.
Workers were demanding back-pay for working through their lunch hours and tea breaks since 2013.
“Across the metro we have employed 1 000 litter pickers in all the affected wards to deal with litter,” Bobani said.
He said the city was dealing with illegal dumping and some sites had been cleaned and converted to play parks for children.
“We have restructured the public health directorate to include rangers who will be dealing directly with enforcement and the issuing of fines to transgressors,” Bobani said.
A fine for illegal dumping is R2 000 while littering will be a costly R1 000.
Mniki said all the townships had one refuse truck that served them every week and that residents were aware of collection times.
He said residents were made aware of the collection times through door-to-door visits, loudhailers, pamphlets and the media.
Refuse is collected from 6am onwards in the city.