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I always thought people who did this were ignorant and lazy – that was until a few days ago. My husband and I are in the process of building and tiling a wall. It is our little DIY project, so no fancy building contractors with big trucks. Two weeks ago, our parking area was covered in building rubble and so we started investigating where we could take it. Wow, what an experience!
The dump on William Nicol Drive only accepts garden refuse and recyclables, while the Woodmead Pikitup site only accepts a small amount of rubble. The Pikitup website directed us to a rubble site in Cosmo City, however, it seemed to be closed. Pikitup website directed us to a rubble site in Cosmo City, however, it seemed to be closed.
In the end, we called a rubble removal company who charged us R900 to collect and remove everything. Now, R900 is a lot of money and not something we could really afford, but we seemed out of options.
There are rubble sites in Joburg, but to trek across town eight times with bakkie loads of rubble would most probably have taken a full day or two, never mind the petrol.
While I do not condone illegal dumping in any way, I do finally understand why it occurs.
The City of Joburg has made it pretty hard for people who want to do the right thing. It’s much easier to dump on the side of the road than it is to find an open dump site that will accept your building rubble.
Let me make it clear … I am in no way condoning illegal dumping. It is not the solution by any means. What I am, however, trying to say is, I finally get it.
I understand the frustration individuals experience in trying to do the right thing. If there were more sites, or they were easier to find and access, we would probably reduce the amount of unsightly rubble that lies on the side of our roads and on vacant land.
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