Secunda and Trichardt residents feel trapped by the large piles of refuse piling up at their homes.
“I had family visiting over Easter weekend and was stuck with a pile of black rubbish bags in front of my house.”
Though many residents made use of the municipal dumpsite, many others were afraid to go to the dumpsite because of the recent heavy rain that made the road impassable.
In a recent press release, Govan Mbeki Municipality stated they would work towards picking up all the refuse that had piled up by 7 April, but many streets were still littered with large piles of household refuse.
The municipality also said residents are responsible for their own refuse, but with the high cost of private refuse removal and limited storage space inside their yards, many residents had no choice but to let their rubbish pile up in the street in front of their homes.
The municipality was contacted for comment and was asked for a removal timeline so residents could plan accordingly, but they did not respond at time of going to press.
On Wednesday, 12 April, Evander residents received written notifications about waste removal, indicating that no waste would be removed over the public holidays linked to Easter.
The notice said those households that had waste removal scheduled for 14 and 17 April, should not put out their rubbish as it will only stand over to the following week.
With no clear answers from the municipality, it seems residents have no choice but to live with their waste for now.
