Garbage bags strewn all around Extensions 8 and 16 – Veld next to Langenhoven Street is a dump
Littering takes place in most areas and any public space once cleaned will be polluted again within days.
It has been saddening to celebrate Human Rights Month in Klipfontein Exensions 8 and 16 as the resident’s right to a healthy environment is being violated.
Illegal dumping in the veld next to Langenhoven Street is a recurring issue that has been reported on several occasions.
The Langenhoven veld has been identified as a hotspot for illegal dumping.
Following a report from eMalahleni Municipality Ward 33 Cllr Kim Faduk about illegal dumping in the area, WITBANK NEWS questioned the conditions in Langenhoven veld and interviewed residents about the concerns of the illegal dumping. However, during the interview, not only were the consequences revealed, but residents expressed their concerns as well.
A resident from Ext 8, Mr Grobbies Grobler who lives in Langenhoven Street near the illegal dumping site, had several complaints:
“I’m sick and tired of illegal dumping,” he said. He went on to say that he has been sitting with black bags for three weeks now, due to the municipality not picking them up. The worse part is that at 11:00, half of the people are already at work, so how should they put out the refuse bags? Other than that, the sewage drains in front of his house have no covers, the bushes are so high that you can’t even see the drains and he got a ‘nice’ smell of sewage hanging around his house for the last three months.
Another Ext 8 resident, Mr Jolan Lewis, came forward to say that he walks around Ext 8 nearly every day and there are so much problems. He reports to Councillor Faduk, who reports to the municipality, but the municipality takes their time reporting back to her or giving feedback and they get annoyed, especially with the uncollected refuse bag, that’s a big problem. At almost every corner black bags are lying around.
A resident from Ext 16, who wishes to stay anonymous, also stated that they are fed up with the garbage not being collected. “Can the municipality tell us why they don’t come to collect garbage? That’s why people are throwing garbage all over the city because the municipality is not helping us with anything,” he added.
Faduk stated that not collecting refuse bags is a major factor contributing to illegal dumping because they don’t collect for weeks at a time, and then the residents on the side will dump in the veld, turning it into a dumping site.
“They were supposed to come today to Ext 8, and they did come to fetch garbage from some streets, but I see some other streets in Ext 8 that is still not collected,” Faduk added.
According to one of the municipal truck drivers WITBANK NEWS managed to speak to, said in most cases the trucks need repairs, and they are short of trucks.
“In this location (Ext 8) garbage was supposed to be collected on Wednesdays,” he added.
According to the municipal spokesperson, Mr Lebo Mofokeng, the municipality remains committed to protecting the environment and ensuring compliance by enforcing relevant municipal environmental by-laws and relevant national environmental management legislation.
“The Executive Mayor of Emalahleni Local Municipality Cllr Conny Nkalitshana launched three operations as part of her 100 days in office. The operations are: Khokha Kuzabancono, Ziveze and Hlanzeka, Mofokeng said.
He went on to say that Operation Hlanzeka encourages environmental groups to come forward and adopt spots to ensure that the community lives in a clean environment.
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