POLOKO TAU
Orlando East residents are dumping rubbish on the doorstep of the Pikitup depot and the adjacent City of Joburg’s customer service centre as the Samwu strike continues.
Heaps of rubbish are piling up while frustration mounts for neighbours close to other illegal dumping sites.
For residents next to the United Christian Church of SA in Orlando East, the strike has worsened the situation at the illegal dumping site behind the church.
Resident Zandile Tshabalala said they had forwarded many complaints to the council, but these were ignored.
“Instead of alleviating the problem, they made it worse when they stopped bringing a huge bin and replaced it with a ‘no dumping’ sign. The smell and flies coming from the rubbish are really killing us. It has become worse since the strike began and the dumping got worse, which meant more woes for us,” she said.
Simon Chauke, who runs a fruit and vegetable stall nearby, complained that the illegal dumping site was badly affecting his business.
“My fruit and veggies are very fresh, but people tend to doubt this because of the smell and flies from the rubbish nearby. This strike has made it even worse for all of us,” he said.
Along Masupha Street in Orlando East, another vegetable vendor, Catherine Manganyi, said the strike had affected her business.
“People coming from the train station normally pass by and grab spinach or something from us, but nowadays they don’t, and we can only blame this rubbish dumped at our trading spot. Sometimes we see people dumping, but we can’t risk being beaten up when trying to stop them. The strike must just stop before we go out of business or contract diseases from the stinking rubbish,” she said.
Pikitup has said it was stepping up efforts to reduce trash piling up outside private residences and business premises.
There is, however, no sign that this has taken place in most parts of Soweto, where street corners and open spaces are becoming swamped by rubbish.
“This is obviously posing a health and safety risk for residents. Trash on the street is something else, but when it goes uncollected for weeks, it becomes a serious case requiring a speedy solution,” said Orlando East resident Lucky Khoza.