Glenhills dumper faces prosecution
DSW confirmed in an email that a case had been opened against the registered owner of the vehicle and that a court date had been set.
A SMALL victory was won against the continuous dumping on Ryde Place in Glenhills last week. This came after Grant Cockburn, vice-chairman of the Mvoti Neighbourhood Watch, caught several men dumping building rubble alongside the road and reported the incident to the authorities on Sunday, 30 August.
Fed up with the mess and disregard for the law, Cockburn sent photographic evidence of the illegal dumping to Durban Solid Waste (DSW). He was asked to provide an affidavit of the incident, which was then sent to the DSW’s law department to facilitate prosecution action against the offenders.
Last week, Cockburn received an e-mail from DSW confirming that a case had been opened against the registered owner of the vehicle and that a court date had been set for 9 November. However, the owner also had the option to pay an admission of guilt fine for ‘an alleged contravention of section 2.2(1)(a) of the City of Durban General By-laws, Notice 204 of 1994’, the e-mail read. The fine is set at R300.
In the event that the registered owner elects to pay the fine, he will not be required to appear in court. However, should he refuse to pay the fine and plead not guilty, the trial will commence on the set date.
Cockburn said that he was ready to attend court and provide testimony, should he be subpoenaed.
“My hope is that more people will get involved and take action against offenders, which will ultimately reduce and stop illegal dumping,” he said.
He added that, while the fine was not a substantial amount, he believed that any form of punishment would serve as discouragement to future offenders.
Related articles:
Dumping spirals out of control in Glen Hills
Live hand grenade found in Glen Hills
Ryde Place gets a Madiba Day make-over
