The lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for waste collection workers in Umdoni Municipality led to waste not being collected within the municipality.
Democratic Alliance Member of the Provincial Legislature, Edwin Baptie, said the continued failure of most services rendered by Umdoni Municipality has reached proportions that require an urgent response.
Baptie said he recently met with Umdoni DA councillors to ask them to call for an urgent council meeting to deal decisively with the failed refuse collection, adding that a special council meeting was held.
While refuse collection resumed in Umdoni Municipality last weekend, Umdoni mayor Sibongile Khathi said they brought in the treasury department to assist with the waste collection disruptions.
Khathi said the interruptions were caused by the lack of PPEs for the municipality’s blue-collar workers.
“The treasury department is going to assist us by appointing a service provider for the PPEs on emergency basis. We have also engaged the unions representing the employees within the municipality and we have reached an agreement that as soon as the matter has been resolved, the employees will return to work,” she said.
The mayor added that she condemns the actions of some Umdoni councillors who have been spreading a narrative on social media platforms where they have said there is an unavailability of funds to source such services.
Khathi said this is incorrect information that seeks to mislead communities and grandstanding to that effect.
“We also ask for cooperation of our community members and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused by this predicament we are faced with. In assisting and improving our waste management within the municipality, we have sourced three trucks that we recently bought as the municipality and over 30 people have been employed to ensure that services are being given to communities,” said Khathi.
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