Minister hands over waste trucks to Limpopo municipalities and gives explicit instructions

Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy

Nothing is for free, Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Environment Barbara Creecy said when handing over a new waste disposal truck to the Collins Chabane municipality on Monday.

In return for the investment, the leaders of the municipality, and other affected municipalities have to up their game at Kruger National Parks’ entrances.

Local government officials also received a skip loader, with a combined value of more than R5 million, for waste collection and processing waste at landfills.

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“Also in Limpopo, the Ba-Phalaborwa municipality will be provided with a compactor truck and truck loader backhoe, also known as a TLB, while the Mbombela and Bushbuckridge municipalities will each receive a compactor truck and a skip loader,” Creecy said.

“They say there is no such thing as a free lunch: well for those of you from the Collins Chabane, Ba-Phalaborwa, Mbombela and Bushbuckridge municipalities there is no such thing as a free waste truck.

“We want you to attend with urgency to the many complaints my office has received about littering and uncontrolled waste dumps around our flagship national park, namely the Kruger Park.”

Khosi TJ Ramovha, chief of the Mulenzhe area, said: “Collins Chabane municipality does not have its own dump. All the rubbish collected here is taken to Thulamela [municipal] dump. There’s a lot of travelling for the trucks.”

It’s a round trip of about 100km. People also throw rubbish in the bush and some gets into streams which run into Nandoni Dam.