For some time, the community of Randfontein has been up in arms about the landfill area, with illegal dumping said to be occurring more frequently.
The Herald recently reported on the state of the dumping site. Several community members spoke out about their safety when visiting the site and put the blame for illegal dumping on the unsafe dumping site. Ward councillors are also concerned about the state of their wards and about the illegal dumping that is occurring more frequently in more local open spaces.
The Herald approached Tshidiso Thlaripe, spokesperson for the Executive Mayor, Mzi Khumalo, for comment. He said, “The Rand West City Local Municipality has standing by-laws which prohibit members of the community from dumping illegally. If any member of the community sees a person illegally dumping they must follow certain steps.”
He added, “We will issue a fine if any person does not obey the by-law.”
When reporting illegal dumping, the following information must be provided to the municipality:
• A description of the person and the vehicle, its registration number or any identifying marks
• A photo showing the culprit engaged in the illegal dumping
• The date and time of the illegal act
This information should be directed to the Public Safety Department.
The law regarding accumulating waste, littering, dumping and abandoned articles can be summarised as follows:
Accumulating waste
Every owner and occupier of premises must keep the premises clean and free from any waste that is likely to cause a nuisance, harm to human health or damage to the environment.
The municipality, or owner in the case of privately owned land, must take responsible steps to ensure that a sufficient number of approved receptacles are provided for the discarding of litter by the public, on any premises to which the public has access.
The municipality or owner of privately owned land must ensure that every receptacle provided is:
• Maintained in good condition
• Suitably weighted or anchored so that it cannot be inadvertently overturned
• Constructed in such manner as to ensure that it is weather- and animal-proof
• Of a suitable size so that the receptacles on the premises are capable of containing all litter likely to be generated on the premises
• Placed in a location convenient for the use of the public and the occupants of the premises to discourage littering or the accumulating of waste
• Emptied and cleaned periodically to ensure that no receptacle or its contents becomes a nuisance
The following actions are prohibited
• No person may litter
• No person may sweep any waste into a gutter, onto a road reserve or onto any public place
• No person may disturb anything in, or remove anything from any receptacle which has been placed for the purposes of collecting litter in such a manner as to cause any of the contents of the receptacle to spill from it
The municipality or the property-owner must within a reasonable time after any litter has been discarded, dumped or left behind, remove such litter or cause it to be removed from the premises concerned to prevent it from becoming a nuisance.
Prohibition of dumping and abandoning articles:
• No person may deposit or permit the depositing of any waste, whether for gain or otherwise, upon any land or in any building of which he is the owner or occupier except if such deposit is made in accordance with the provisions of the by-laws
• Subject to any provision to the contrary contained in the by-laws, no person may leave any articles or allow any article under his or her control to be left at a place with the intention of abandoning it
• No person may dump waste
The municipality feels that having set these by-laws in place and informing the community about them, there should be no reason for any person to dump waste illegally.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at randfonteinherald@caxton.co.za (please remember to include your contact details in the email) or phone us on 011 693 3671.
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