Local actor’s dumping drama in Melville

Actor’s dumping drama

Lesego Maja

lesegomaja@caxton.co.za

A PARKHURST resident made his rubbish Melville's problem, contrary to the principal of good neighbourliness.

Local actor and Frank Opperman came upon a heap of bottlebrush branches piled up outside the Melville Koppies fence, directly opposite his driveway.

The branches were accompanied by boxes that contained BMW parts and the alleged dumper’s personal information, which gave Opperman access to his contact details.

“I gave the guy a chance [to come clean] and contacted him,” Opperman said. “He admitted that the BMW parts were his but denied having a garden [where the bottlebrush cuttings assumedly originated] in his yard. So I drove past his house and saw that he actually does have a garden – with bottlebrush trees.”

Opperman found out that the pile had been there for three days before he noticed it, as he normally uses an alternative entrance to enter and leave his yard.

The actor has been living in Melville for many years and feels this incident could easily escalate to something bigger than it seems.

“This is symptomatic of what happens if people from another neighbourhood right next to you start dumping their stuff here, you are in for a tough ride. This must be stopped.”

Opperman had to find ways to remove the dumped items, which he suspects were offloaded from a van, and managed to get Pikitup to help with the boxes.

Pikitup does not remove tree branches, however, which means he had to pay to get rid of them.

Opperman says the alleged dumper is adamant that he had nothing to do with the incident and insists that he threw the dumped contents in his dustbin.

JMPD spokesperson, Wayne Minaar, said such dumping could result in a fine.

“A person who dumps a load with a van or a truck could incur a fine of R1 500,” Minaar said.

Opperman said he would appreciate it if the person responsible was held accountable in any way possible.

NMT made numerous attempts to reach the alleged dumper to establish whether it could have been possible that a refuse removal company had left him in hot water.

Ward 87 councillor Amanda Forsythe commended Opperman's efforts to resolve the issue by following protocol – reporting the matter to Pikitup, obtaining a reference number, and escalating the matter to the local ward councillor. She added that she had in turn escalated the matter to JMPD and the ward inspector.

“Frank's case is an opportunity for us to tackle the serious issue of illegal dumping in Johannesburg,” Forsythe told NMT.

“It is incredibly rare that a resident takes it upon himself to investigate and actually assists in identifying the culprit while following all the right channels. In this case, we can actually issue a fine and bring the perpetrator to book.”