Clean-up campaign tackles waste in Kempton Park and Thembisa
The situation forced the municipality to pull additional resources from other parts of Ekurhuleni to deal with the backlog, and in some areas illegal dumping.
The City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) has deployed additional resources to deal with waste removal backlogs in parts of Kempton Park and Thembisa following a recent withdrawal of a service provider.
The withdrawal of services was a result of a ‘misunderstanding around payment’ and caused waste accumulation in areas such as Norkem Park, Kempton West, Terenure Birch Acres, Thembisa, Olifantsfontein and Midstream.
The situation forced the municipality to pull additional resources from other parts of Ekurhuleni to deal with the backlog and, in some areas, illegal dumping.
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On February 7, the MMC for Environment and Waste Management Leshaka Manamela led a team to kick start the intervention through the Clean Your Kasi, Manje, Namhlanje Campaign, which focused on illegal dumping, collection rounds and litter picking in Phomolong, Winnie Mandela, Birch Acres and Esselen Park.
These areas were targeted because they are the main entrances to the affected areas.
“As a responsive government, we had to intervene on the current contractual impasse. The Clean Your Kasi campaign is an effective tool to mobilise the resources of the state to provide accelerated service delivery to our people.”
“We are utilising internal staff and council equipment to build a capable state that is not dependent on contractors.
“We thank the residents for their patience, and we are committed to clearing the backlog as soon as possible,” said Manamela.
He added the intervention will be escalated to all affected areas and work will continue in earnest throughout the weekend.
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“The goal is to deal with all the backlogs by Sunday so that we start the new week on a clean slate.
“While this is happening, the city will continue negotiations with the service provider to speedily resolve outstanding issues and ensure that waste removal services return to normal,” said Manamela.
