Mayor Campbell fights uncollected waste
Waste in the metro has not been collected and residents were forced to find alternative ways to dispose of it.
Kwatsaduza – Heeding her promises to turn around the collapse of solid waste collection in the metro, the re-elected mayor, Tania Campbell, has placed the head of the department (HOD) for environmental resources and waste management, Faith Wotshela, on administrative leave.
Campbell said after nearly a three-week executive leadership vacuum, solid waste collection in the metro has come to a complete standstill.
In the past weeks, waste has not been collected and residents were forced to find alternative ways to dispose of it.
It is alleged invoices for contractors were not being paid. These contractors could not afford the diesel to be able to carry out their duties.
“Waste has been piling up across the metro causing our streets to be adorned with filth and residents have found themselves living in inhumane conditions.
“This is unacceptable,” she said.
She added that to resolve this with the urgency that it deserves, “I have established a solid waste task team which has a two-fold mandate.
“The first is to get the waste collection back on track with immediate effect. I will receive daily progress reports from the task team to assess where the bottlenecks are and how far the refuge is cleared.
“The second is to investigate what has gone wrong in the department and has led to this collapse,” she said.