Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Rubbish piles up as residents threaten to assault workers
HEAPS of hundreds of blue rubbish bags are piled up on the doorsteps of residents of Nltazane Road in the Enkanini informal settlement in Khayelitsha, thanks to an employment dispute which has left cleaners fearing for their lives and rubbish uncollected.
The rubbish is supposed to be removed daily, but residents are apparently upset about new staff hired by the contractor responsible for cleaning the area.
According to Ernest Sonnenberg, the city’s mayoral committee member for utility services, the city employed a contractor for rubbish collection and also provided refuse bins for residents. These were cleared three times a week.
But when Weekend Argus visited the area this week, only one green container was evident and it was overflowing with rubbish. Cows were feeding on exposed refuse.
Resident Zusakhe Mpenge, whose home faces the road, has community toilets as well as piles of rubbish right on her doorstep. She said she could no longer open her windows as the smell was unbearable.
“We can’t blame the city or the contractor for this because it is not their fault. It’s commu- nity members fighting among themselves who are causing others to suffer,” she said.
Mpenge said there is some anger among people not hired as rubbish collectors by the contractor. And they’re obstructing those who were hired from doing their jobs.
“My home is stuffy now because I can’t open the windows or even the door for that matter because of the flies and the smell,” she said.
Sonnenberg confirmed the city had tried to mediate in a bid to reach a resolution.
“Refuse collection and cleansing operations have been disrupted due to a dispute in the community over who from the area is afforded employment opportunities.
“The city has met with the community to mediate a consensus... (but) certain community members who are unhappy with the outcomes of these meetings have continued sabotaging the service and intimidating the contractor’s staff,” he said.
Community leader Thembela Mbanjwa said the city had promised the situation would be resolved this week, but residents were adamant work would not proceed until they got what they wanted.
“Now we have a situation of residents fighting residents over job opportunities and it affects more than just contractors, but other residents who have nothing to do with the hiring and firing of cleaning staff in the area.
“We as community leaders are now rallying behind those who want this matter resolved, and say that anyone who intimidates cleaners will be dealt with.
“We cannot allow people to live in filth,” said Mbanjwa.
Stall owner Balindile Mpumlwana complained her business was affected negatively because of rubbish piled up beside it. “We can’t even eat anymore because of the horrible smell that comes from these bags. I don’t even want to talk about the flies..”
She worries about the health risk to children in the area. “There must always be somebody outside watching them because there are maggots and rats in there. This is a danger to our health,” she said.
But an angry group of women sitting on the pavement near the mounds of rubbish were adamant they were waiting to assault those employed to clean up the area.
Sonnenberg confirmed it was still “unsafe for contractors to operate in certain pockets of the settlement”.
asanda.sokanyile@inl.co.za RUBBLE and broken glass are all that’s being served at the once popular Old Constantia Nek restaurant, a heritage site bought by the Harbour House Group with plans to create new branches there of the Harbour House and La Parada eateries.
The owners are hopeful they will be able to restart work and be open for business in about 10 weeks.
Planned renovations for the two restaurants, catering for different markets, ground to a halt at the end of last year when the city issued a “cease work” order because of doubt over alterations being made to the interior.
The plans were for the upgrading of all buildings on the site and the parking area, as well as the restoration of the thatched roof and the division of the site into two restaurants.
A visit this week to the site, just a stone’s throw from a popular spot for tourist buses, shows the outside is cordoned off with tape.
A small wooden post alerts visitors to a “health and safety hazard”.
A deep trench, dug during construction, runs the entire length of the building, and large piles of rubble lie on the restaurant’s verandah. More rubble can be seen inside through the broken windows and glass doors.
The rear of the building is closed with loose planks and hardboard, allowing easy access. A guard posted there said he was safeguarding is building material.
Asked to comment Johan van der Merwe, mayoral committee member for energy, environmental and spatial planning confirmed the “cease work” order had been issued by city authorities in October. This was because builders began “with internal alterations to the structure without approved building plans”.
But Van der Merwe said a building application for additions and alterations to the existing restaurant was later “submitted and circulated to various city departments, as well as Heritage Western Cape”.
Because the building is a heritage site – it is Cape Town’s oldest restaurant – the applica- tion for renovations “triggers the National Heritage Resources Act, and the proposal is, therefore, being assessed by Heritage Western Cape”, he said.
The restaurants were to have opened in October.
Yesterday David Townsend, the Harbour House group’s architect, confirmed they had submitted additional applications to the city, as well as the fire department and were now awaiting necessary approvals.
Townsend said there had been a “fire issue” initially, which had prompted the city to put the construction on hold.
But once they received a certificate from the fire department approving their plans, they would turn to Heritage Western Cape for final approval.
“Heritage Western Cape is meeting on Wednesday, where the matter will also be discussed.
“But they then have about two weeks to send us a letter, which we will then take to the city for final approval.”
He said they hoped to open the restaurants in about 10 weeks. Ndowa Nyamutamba, who works for the sightseeing bus company, told Weekend Argus the restaurant used to be a “buzzing place” that was never empty.
“It was always busy, with people coming and going and just enjoying the good food and atmosphere.
“They had a lovely patio area where people could sit during warmer days and you could see that it was an enjoyable space,” he said.
asanda.sokanyile@inl.co.za