Mall, hardware store bust for illegally dumping rubbish
A shopping mall and a hardware store in Mthatha have been slapped with fines after employees were caught illegally dumping rubbish on a vacant plot along the R61.
This came just days after residents vented their frustrations to the Daily Dispatch about filthy conditions in the town.
King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) municipal spokesperson Sonwabo Mampoza said officials had caught two people illegally disposing of waste on the vacant land on Monday.
The property lies a few metres from the hardware store and shopping mall opposite. They were caught by our law “enforcement officers, who were on patrol,” he said.
“When they were questioned, it transpired that one worked at the hardware while the other worked at the mall.”
He identified the Hmart Hardware Store and the Circus Triangle Mall, one of three biggest shopping complexes in Mthatha, as the culprits.
KSD mayoral committee member and community services
portfolio head Zoliswa Madyibi said the two businesses had each been fined R2,000 for illegal dumping.
They also would have to carry the costs of a tractor loader
backhoe (TLB) hired to dig up the rubbish and transport it to the town s main landfill site.
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We have spoken to the managers “of the hardware and they conceded they instructed their
staff to dump at that place,” Madyibi said.
We told them about the fees “they have to pay and how their actions make Mthatha dirty.”
She said businesses were allowed
to apply for skip bins at KSD which would be fetched and emptied at the landfill site once full.
KSD had also been provided with 195 contract workers by
the department of environmental affairs to assist in cleaning up and beautifying Mthatha.
Mampoza said it had cost KSD about R70,000 to get rid of the two illegal dumping sites on
Monday.
This included the costs of hiring a TLB for an entire week and the trips made by municipal trucks to the landfill site. Questions were sent to the Circus Triangle Mall but no response had been received at the time of writing on Wednesday.
A manager at Hmart Hardware, who refused to give his name, confirmed it had been visited by KSD officials on Monday but denied that the store had been fined R2,000.
However, he said it had sorted out the issue with the municipality. Mthatha Ratepayers and Residents Association spokesperson Madyibi Ngxekana said it was not impressed by the action taken by KSD.
They are just trying to save face [after a scathing article in the Dispatch on the weekend].”
Eastern Cape Chamber of Business president Vuyisile Ntlabati said it had discussed the state of Mthatha with KSD officials at a meeting chaired by mayor Nyaniso Nelani.
He said the city was deteriorating because there were no effective bylaws to guard against rampant illegal dumping.