Mbombela residents outraged at state of city following ANC’s 112th anniversary celebrations

While the City of Mbombela has said efforts to clean up parts of the city are under way, many residents have complained about the masses of litter strewn about the city following the ANC’s 112th anniversary celebrations on Saturday, January 13.

Lowvelders awoke on Sunday morning January 14 to fields, pavements and middlemen full of plastic and glass bottles, takeaway containers and boxes and other rubbish – even on the roadside and island of Samora Machel Drive, the ring road and around Mbombela Stadium.
Videos and photos were posted by residents on Facebook and local WhatsApp groups, commenting on the state of the area.

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The ANC’s anniversary celebrations had been ongoing in the Lowveld over the past week, ending in a massive rally at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday. Roads leading towards the stadium, such as the N4, R37 and the R40 near Riverside, were subject to heavy traffic throughout most of the day.

Comments of a Facebook post by well-known Lowvelder Marius Bakkes on the public group Iewers in die Laeveld showed how residents felt about the litter.
Chantal Rautenbach commented: “Ek is al baie lank ‘n Nelspruiter, maar nog nooit het dit so gelyk nie! Wie gaan die gemors skoonmaak?”
“Ek het op pad werk toe ‘n oorval gehad. Dis disgusting. Vuilgoed orals,” commented Thelma Nel.
Meanwhile, Jaco Kruger commented: “Ja nee, dit is hartseer om te sien hoe plekke agtergelaat word waar sulke samekomste was.”

Nelpruit Residents & Ratepayers Association’s TJ Maré, who is also the founder of We Care 4 Nelspruit, said he was awoken this morning, January 14, by messages from locals complaining about the state in which the city had been left. Maré said he saw some of the videos and photos and decided to take a drive around to have a look for himself.

“It was shocking. There were no provisions made to cater to so many people. I saw some people cleaning around the stadium, but did not see any clean-up teams anywhere else. By 10:00, I still did not see any teams,” he said.
He said the public spaces were the biggest problem when it came to the litter. “It was left in a filthy condition.”

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The City of Mbombela’s (CoM) executive mayor, Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko, said there were teams cleaning up the area that have been on the ground since early this morning.
She pleaded for calm and patience from residents and said that teams from the CoM were working hard and that the work would continue until the entire city was cleaned up. She said the process should take between two to three days.

@lowvelder

Lowvelders awoke on Sunday morning, January 14, to fields, pavements and middlemen full of litter around Samora Machel Drive, the ring road and around Mbombela Stadium. This followed the ANC’s 12th anniversary celebrations on Saturday January 13. #ANC #ANC112 #mbombelastadium #CyrilRamaphosa #ancanniversary #Mbombela #Nelspruit

♬ original sound – Lowveld Media

CoM’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, added that the clean-up would continue until Wednesday.
“We anticipated the overflow and started with some areas immediately. We have teams assisting from Hazyview up to Barberton. We appeal to our residents to bear with us as this work will take some time, as indicated above,” he said.

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“The cleaning started around the stadium, Riverside area and the CBD. We currently have a team of 30, which will be beefed up from tomorrow,” said Ngala.
Most of the roads around the stadium had been cleaned when Lowvelder drove out to the area at about 12:00 on Sunday.

Maré said, however, that the clean-up process should not take more than a day.
“With enough resources, the cleanup around Nelspruit can be done in a day,” he said.
He said another concern was the prediction of rain, and that all the rubbish not yet cleaned up would be swept into the Lowveld’s rivers and streams.

Lowvelder tried to call and send WhatsApp messages to the provincial ANC chairperson, Mandla Ndlovu, as well as Mpumalanga ANC’s Sibusiso Themba and Lindiwe Ntshalintshali regarding the litter, however, no response had been received by the time of publishing.