City acts to clean Wierda road dumping headache
For years, residents have had to grapple with an informal recycling spot along the Hennops River at the corner of Wierda and Old Johannesburg roads.
Tshwane has once again cleared parts of an informal waste recycling site that had been a thorn in the side of residents who live nearby.
The site is located in the wetland area next to the Hennops River at the intersection of the R101 Old Johannesburg and the M10 Wierda roads.
Residents previously told Rekord that a rise in crime in the area had coincided with the formation of waste recycling.
They said the traders had been caught with manhole covers and other stolen property, while the number of burglaries had risen.
Large amounts of trash transported to and dumped at the site before being sorted by the waste pickers also lead to river pollution, especially during heavy rains.
Last week, metro officials from the waste department helped clear the site.
According to the ward councillor Cindy Billson, informal waste pickers set up shop on provincial land around 2021.
“It all started on the property on the corner of Wierda Road, [between] Saxby and Lorentz,” Billson told Rekord earlier.
She said the previous site was located on privately owned land in 2018, while individuals not from the area allegedly encouraged the squatters to remain at the site.
“This later turned into a very violent situation where three cars were burned,” Billson told Rekord in January.
“Several people were arrested.”
Billson said that she welcomed the work by the waste department and the mayoral office to have the site cleaned once again.
“Gauteng province is just not reacting on the request from the City of Tshwane to clean and maintain provincial land,” she said.
She said that the metro had previously attempted to move the recyclers, with proper housing nearby, but that they moved away within a week.
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