Environmental cleanliness is not something we can be proud of at this stage in our city. Littering takes place in most areas and any public space once cleaned will be polluted again within days. We are often accused of being one of the dirtiest municipalities in the province.
There are many factors in our area which contribute to this situation and behaviour patterns. Illegal dumps are not normal littering, rather they are representing a more deliberate action by community members to dispose of waste.
The main factors contributing to illegal dumping include, but are not limited to, insufficient and or inadequate waste removal service, largely caused by, delays in collection of waste by the municipality, lack of a formal removal system at informal settlements, due to lack of roads, insufficient number of skips, laziness of our community members to dispose of waste in the correct manner or allocated skips, disposal of business waste and building rubble illegally, lack of education and awareness.
The municipality needs to conduct regular education and awareness campaigns on cleanliness, waste disposal practices, waste by-laws, etc.
Contact details for relevant departments in terms of waste collection has to be made available to the public. Consistency in prosecuting individuals/businesses found to be dumping illegally, enforcement of fines on households & businesses disposing off building rubble and garden waste along the roads or in their yards.
There are currently over 200 illegal dumping spots within the municipality, which are found on municipal land, privately owned land, previously undermined areas, close to informal settlements and within some formalised areas along the roads.
The question frequently asked by residents is, what is the municipality doing about this situation?
The municipality has a cleaning programme that focuses on cleaning these illegal dumping areas. There are over 30 skips (mass containers) that have been provided in informal settlements that are also collected on a weekly basis.
Complaints on illegal dumping areas, are also received via e-mail, Facebook, phone and sms; and handled by the relevant department. These are then loaded onto the cleaning programme to also ensure that they are attended to. The municipality has 3 operational landfill sites, where the members of the community are allowed to enter and dispose of waste that is less than 1 ton, free of charge.
An arrangement can be made at the Waste Department for collection of building rubble, business waste and garden refuse at a fixed rate (tariffs are available on the Municipal Website).
The Solid Waste Management By-Laws were promulgated in January 2016; and are the legal framework on handling and management of solid waste within the municipality (by-laws are available on the municipal website).
So to put plans into action and the way forward the following programs have been initiated within the municipality to improve waste collection and management at large and will be communicated to the public, prior to finalisation. The adopt a spot policy, cleaning, education and awareness campaign, adopt your lawn/front programme, Adopt a street programme, upgrading of the Leeuwpoort & Ga Nala landfill sites, route planning and the waste management service and transfer stations and recycling programmes.
These programs are geared at encouraging the involvement of the community and businesses in protecting the environment, and will not only focus on waste management; but will also include water and air quality management. They will also ensure that the municipality is fully compliant in terms of waste management and handling; and will address the need for alternative means of waste management, collection and recycling. These programmes will also provide an opportunity to encourage green business initiatives within the municipality in line with the adopt a spot policy.
The municipality would like to encourage the public at large not to litter and not to dispose of waste in the incorrect manner. If delays are experienced, we would like to encourage the public not to leave their waste unattended; but to work with the municipality.
