I wonder how for long the Benoni Municipality will actually believe that they have convinced the residents of Benoni that they are “providing an adequate service”.
The reasons for the latest increase is again filled with mumbo jumbo.
The streets are getting dirtier, parks have been left with unsightly litter and uncut lawns (when the lawns are cut the operators just cut over the litter) and litter boxes are bursting at the seams (the litter box in the street outside the Linmed has been left unattended for up to three months at a time – I know this as this was my daily walking route not so long ago).
Either the work teams are lying to management about work being completed, or management are not managing the work being done or the time it takes to complete these tasks.
We cannot lay the blame for the current litter problem on the municipality but, instead, on a large group of the population who create the litter.
This group is not defined by race, creed or status, but by our core principles of value.
It is a daily or should I say hourly occurrence to observe litter being ejected from our hands, no matter where we find ourselves.
I am sorry to point a finger at the taxis but this is a huge problem area of litter.
Visit any taxi rank or a bus stop being used by taxis and I need say no more.
If I may use the city of Brussels in Belgium as an example.
I had the privilege of living there for a year.
The streets, parks and squares (of which there are many), in any town or city are as clean as a whistle … not because they are kept clean by competent municipalities, but because people do not litter.
Perhaps it is fair to say that if we, the people, used the litter disposal means we have, like bins … the council could use its workforce to focus on collecting the rubbish instead of having to clean it up beforehand as well.
This still does not remove the responsibility from the municipality of managing and empowering its work teams.
It is no secret that the speed and economic efficiency of the workers on the ground is poor at best.
Perhaps the teams need to be empowered through behavioural training or motivated through performance rewards … or replaced by team leaders who actually care.
Not for the salary they receive, but for a cleaner Benoni.
Maybe we can regain our status as the cleanest city in the east again.
Maybe!
Benoni Resident
