Residents of Boksburg have been left in the dark for the past few weeks regarding the metro’s refuse collection schedule, which has not been operating accordingly.
This has caused frustration for residents across Boksburg who for days are left to drown under stinking piles of rubbish that are waiting to be collected.
According to Bartlett resident, Tereza dos Santos, their bins are no longer emptied every Monday as per the metro’s schedule.
“We always put our bins out expecting that the waste truck will come and collect the garbage but they don’t. It gets tiring. We have to take the bins in and out of our yards every day because we don’t know exactly which day they will collect them. I have lodged numerous complaints to the municipality but I’ve seen no change,” said dos Santos.
Dos Santos said other residents who leave early in the mornings to go to work have resorted to putting out their bins at night due to the uncertainty of when the bins will be collected, only to take them back in again the next day.
“Our ward councillor Simon Lapping notified us on April 21 that the refuse department is struggling with the availability of trucks as they are operating with four trucks instead of 16, hence the delay. We hope this matter will be sorted out soon because we are paying for services that are not being delivered.”
Another frustrated resident of Dawn Park, Noni Mazibuko, has also raised her grievances about the municipality’s delay to collect garbage in her area.
“We need the metro to explain to us why there are inconsistencies; one week our garbage is collected and the next it’s not. We pay for this service but we are being treated as if we don’t,” she said.
Mazibuko said two months ago she and her husband had to take their garbage to the Rooikraal dumpsite after it wasn’t collected for weeks.
“When we arrived at the dumpsite they turned us away, telling us we cannot dump there because the municipality hasn’t paid them. What makes me angry is that we are not notified to when the bins will be collected, nor an apology for being mum about this situation,” said Mazibuko.
The State of the City Address on March 18 last year highlighted that the demand for waste removal has been on the rise in the metro.
The mayor, Mzwandile Masina, at the time stated that this was in line with the increase in the population, new township establishments and immigration.
“This has seen a huge leap in the number of backyard dwellers seeking jobs and economic opportunities. In response to this challenge, a comprehensive strategy was developed and is being rolled out incrementally to date” said Masina at the time.
He also promised that a new five-year waste collection contract will soon be advertised with new, improved features aimed at increasing efficiency. He said the contract will cover eight broad areas and is aimed at improving their services based on the recently adopted turnaround strategy.
Metro responds
Spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said the metro is experiencing challenges with vehicle availability at depots due to mechanical breakdowns.
“The service providers assisting with additional capacity have not been able to supply sufficient vehicles to cover the shortfall. We are currently running below 25 per cent capacity in Boksburg and have not been able to collect refuse as per the schedule for the past two weeks as a result. We are experiencing backlogs of up to five days per area but are in the process of fixing the problems and we anticipate that services will be restored to normal in two weeks,” he said.
“We apologise for the inconvenience. This regrettable situation is receiving our urgent attention.”
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