POLOKWANE – Carcasses have been found on various streets across the city.
This raises the question, whose responsibility is it to remove the bodies? The answer to this question becomes even more pertinent after a 12-year-old’s pet was runover by a motorist and he was told by a municipal worker to remove the body from the road.
According to the boy’s mother, Lillian Malatje, the boy came home from school one afternoon and found his beloved pet dead outside their home. “My son’s nanny said Thabo came running into the house saying he needed to get a bag because the man outside said that he had to remove the body from the street,”she told Review.
The nanny went outside to see what the commotion was about and found municipal workers collecting rubbish bags outside the house.
“She asked why they told the boy to remove his pet’s body himself and they told her its not the municipality’s responsibility. He told her the boy needed to learn how these things work,” Malatjie continued. “I am outraged with the way this situation was handled,” Malatje said.
Polokwane Municipality Spokesperson, Matshidiso Mothapo said the removal of dead animals is the responsibility of the municipality’s waste management team and residents with complaints or who would like to report dead animals on the road can contact the waste management team at (015) 290 2366.
“The removal of dead animals is not the responsibility of rubbish collectors,” Mothapo said.
riana@nmgroup.co.za
