Lolo Madonsela
The residents of Bhekuzulu Location are concerned about the alleged outsourcing of refuse removal by the municipality in the area, saying it has caused a ‘health hazard’.
Born and bred resident of Bhekuzulu, Mpumelelo Buthelezi said, “For the past ten years, we have witnessed most of this service being outsourced from parks to refuse removal and things have turned for the worst. Every corner has turned into a dumping site, as a result of waste not being collected on time or not at all.”
He also stated the outsourcing of services had a negative impact on service delivery and employment.
“This thing of outsourcing has a negative impact on the services and it is worse on employment, because it does not provide decent jobs where employees enjoy benefits such as medical aid and provident fund,” added Buthelezi.
He said Bhekuzulu Location used to be a beautiful township, but services such as waste removal, water shortages and disruption of electricity were now common.
“When one was growing up, most of the municipal services were performed in-house and service was good. Vryheid as a whole was once a beautiful town, but in the last decade it has not been good at all in terms of service delivery.
“This brings one to question why our leadership in the municipality decided on outsourcing. Was it because it is cheaper or to line their pockets at the expense of the ratepayers? We would like to know what the municipality intends on doing with this heap of refuse lying on every corner in my neighbourhood,” he questioned.
Also read: Illegal dumpers will be fined
Buthelezi added it was not just a health hazard to the children but was also affecting the environment. Some of the refuse ended up in the rivers which flowed in turn into dams supplying water.
“Our children play in these dumps and this is hazardous to them…Clearly this not healthy and safe for anyone.”
Director of Community Services, Skhumbuzo Zondo said the municipality was aware of the challenges and had already put a plan in place to ‘arrest the issue’.
“We have managed to get a TLB and a truck to get rid of all the illegal dumping; not just in Bhekuzula but across town as well. We had challenges with our truck and we only had one TLB, but our service provider has agreed to bring in their TLB and another truck,” added Zondo.
He also mentioned that the community itself needed awareness on how to keep their environment clean, and indicated ‘amaphara’ were also a contributing factor to the heaps of refuse being dumped in AbaQulusi as a whole.
“We have developed awareness programmes for the community to educate them about keeping the environment clean, because it is not only the municipality’s responsibility to keep our areas clean but that of the citizens as well. Amaphara are also a huge challenge, because they are adding to the untidiness of our town. This is another trial we still need to find a way to fight,” concluded Zondo.
Make sure you follow us on our social media platforms for regular updates
