Members of the Welverdiend CPF (Community Policing Forum), Messrs. Plastiek Janse van Vuuren and Dion Williams, showed the Herald where residents had been dumping rubbish into sinkholes between Welverdiend and the Wonderfonteinspruit.
“Some people started doing this when the municipal workers refused to remove their rubbish during their strike,” says Van Vuuren.
Several people from the town not only dumped their garden refuse in the sinkholes but also threw household rubbish like disposable nappies into them.
“I was worried that this would pollute the environment, and tried to persuade some of them not to do it,” says Van Vuuren. He added, however, that some of the people claimed to have permission to dump their rubbish in the sinkholes, which are situated on land belonging to the FWRDWA. The Herald contacted the organisation about the issue.
The chairperson, Mr Pierre Kruger, responded to questions during the past week.
“We have inspected the sinkholes in ques- tion and I can confirm that garden rubbish and a small amount of general trash has been thrown into the holes.
The sinkholes have been in existence since pre-2004 and are situated in the non- dewatered Boskop Turffontein Water Compartment. Their origin is not related to the dewatering by the mines. The amount of rubbish suggests that the dumping is a fairly recent occurrence.
No one has permission to dump rubbish of any kind into these sinkholes and anyone caught will be prosecuted,” says Kruger.
He also noted that the FWRDWA is an independent legal entity and his employer, Sibanye-Stillwater, is only one of the members of the management committee.