Refuse piles up at Cato Crest

RESIDENTS at Nqobile Village, Cato Crest are faced with a mushrooming mountain of refuse that grows by the day since the municipality has failed to remove the rubbish since May.

According to Councillor Halalisani Ndlovu, PR councillor for the area, eThekwini’s failure to collect refuse in Nqobile Village is purely political.

“It is unfortunate that this community is being victimized for merely practicing their democratic rights. This community is known to support Abahlali Basemjondolo, a shack dwellers movement, and they are now being punished for openly supporting the DA,” he said, adding that the mountain of rubbish posed a health risk for the residents. He said the failure in service delivery was unconstitutional and had to stop.

“The rubbish is piled up outside people's front doors and with little children running around, it is a serious health risk. I have written to DSW and the municipality asking who is responsible for this as someone must be held accountable. Someone is being paid for not doing their job. It diminishes people's pride in their homes and area,” he said.

According to chairperson of Abahlali Basemjondolo, the garbage was usually collected on a Thursday, prior to the elections in May.

“We are very disappointed with the municipality. Before we decided to vote against the ANC party, our garbage was collected every week. We now feel excluded from services the municipality provides. The municipality is a governmental structure that is meant to provide for all South Africans, regardless of who they vote for. We need answers,” he said.

He said if the municipality was not prepared to help, the residents would have to take the garbage down to the road themselves, to make the municipality's life easier.

“The ANC is failing these people. The DA together with Abahlali Basemjondolo will fight to give the forgotten masses their dignity back while ensuring that pressure is put on the municipality to deliver services,”

said Ndlovu. He said he would pose questions in the next full council meeting to ascertain why refuse had not been collected and when the service would resume.

There was no comment from the municipality at time of going to print.