Refuse collection backlog frustrates councillor, residents
Ward 33 councillor Mmabatho Tembe, said she was doing her best to update the community regularly.
THE issue of uncollected refuse has been escalated to the city manager and head of Durban Solid Waste (DSW) following numerous complaints by the community.
Commenting on the matter, ward 33 councillor Mmabatho Tembe, said she was doing her best to update the community regularly.
She said she had been inundated with calls.
According to Mmabatho the problems started two weeks ago when she was told two trucks in the depot had broken down.
“As there weren’t enough trucks to begin with, this means we started off on a back foot before the strikes made things worse. Already there was rubbish which hadn’t been collected and a week later, there was still no collection because of the strike,” said Tembe.
She said the ward was now sitting on a two-week backlog and the depot was struggling to catch up with this, with only two trucks available to service the ward and surrounding areas.
She said the area was looking a mess as with bags being on the ground for so long, they have been open to the weather and vagrants have been digging through them. Tembe added that there were also currently no street sweepers or litter pickers.
“I sent an email last week to the city manager and head of DSW asking them to intervene as the situation is dire. This is not the first time that broken down trucks and strikes have dealt a huge blow to residents and service delivery has declined. Residents pay rates and taxes and they expect a certain level of communication from the municipality when it comes to what they need. As councillors it is very difficult to assist the community when there are no resources,” she said.
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Tembe said she was very disappointed with the City and that she would continue to fight for answers as to why there are insufficient trucks and so many breakdowns.
Responding to a request for feedback from the City, eThekwini Municipality’s spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela, said: “The City is currently experiencing the aftermath of the unlawful work stoppage by the Expanded Public Works Programme workers that resulted in intimidation of permanent staff of cleansing and solid waste (DSW) from leaving their depots, and gates to the depots were barricaded. We are in the process of addressing this and hope to have matters back to normal soon.”
He said the unit had issued an ultimatum to all striking workers to be at their workstation or face dismissal.
“We understand the frustration experienced by our ratepayers and customers and that drastic steps need to be taken. We apologise for the inconvenience caused and we ask that our residents be patient with us as we work to resolve this,” he said.
Mayisela said the City was not aware of any DSW refuse collection staff being on strike/go-slow, as refuse collection was not affected by the EPWP workers strike. He asked that those suburbs experiencing issues contact DSW on 031 311 8841.
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