A near accident between a motorist, Errol Levin, and a recycler has raised a cause for concern.
Recyclers push rubbish trolleys in the suburbs and collect different recyclable materials from residents’ bins. Levin told Sandton Chronicle that he had an incident on Bowling Avenue where he almost hit a man pushing a rubbish trolley with his car.
Levin said, “There was a man who was pulling a trolley along the road and it fell over, nearly causing an accident.”
Bowling Avenue is a narrow road, with barely enough space for one car to pass. Levin is perturbed that people pulling trolleys have access to use the roads and sees them as a danger to road users.
According to Levin, if he had not stopped when he did, he could have hit the man. He was also worried about possible damage to his car.
“Had this particular trolley fallen on my vehicle, would he [the recycler] have been responsible for the repairs to my vehicle?” questioned Levin.
“If so, should he be on the road if he could damage vehicles?” he added.
Levin suggested the Metro police confiscate their carts.
“In order for me to use the roads, I pay taxes and I have to have a licence for my vehicle. Why don’t they have a licence to operate their carts?” asked Levin.
Spokesperson for the Metro police, Edna Mamonyane, is not sure what plan would work best when it comes to recyclers and their carts.
“If they are not clearing bins to recycle, then they turn to crime to make money,” said Mamonyane.
“They do not cause a problem for us, they are just picking up rubbish,” she added.
Mamonyane thinks the City of Johannesburg could come up with a plan for them.
In the meantime, she asked the public to be more patient and lenient towards them, and to “think of ideas of how to help them”.
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