Rubbish piles in Emfuleni as waste trucks held ‘hostage’
Emfuleni has remained dysfunctional despite it being put under administration, Gauteng cooperative governance MEC Lebogang Maile said last month.
The Sheriff seizes property at the Emfuleni Local Municipality offices in Vanderbijlpark on 11 March 2020, for their non-payment of a R2.3 billion debt to Eskom. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Areas under the Emfuleni Local Municipality in the Vaal, Johannesburg, haven’t had their waste collected in three weeks and rubbish piling up in the streets.
This is according to Dady Mollo, DA chief whip at the Sedibeng District Municipality, who said Emfuleni had failed to pay three service providers for repairing more than 30 broken waste removal trucks.
“Inkhokheli, Ntlangano and Makume, are holding the trucks and the keys to these vehicles at their premises pending payment.
“The municipality has a fixed agreement with these service providers to repair its trucks.
“Waste has not been collected for three consecutive weeks in Sebokeng as thousands of residents wait in vain for the municipal refuse removal vehicles to collect it,” Mollo said in a statement.
ALSO READ: Water and sanitation dept to take over Emfuleni’s water works
Emfuleni has remained dysfunctional despite it being put under administration, Gauteng cooperative governance MEC Lebogang Maile said last month.
The municipality remains in debt of R4.6 billion, meaning that the administration team led by Arbeto Martins failed to “produce the desired outcomes and the municipality continues to experience challenges”, said Maile.
Last month, the Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation decided to take over Emfuleni’s water infrastructure, after years of pollution and mismanagement was confirmed in a damning report by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) earlier this week.
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
For more news your way
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.