Tyre burners continue to poison the city

A recent veld fire burning through the night in Main Reef Road, next to Lilianton, has again highlighted the environmental crisis tyre burning in the area is causing – a practice that has been going on unabated for at least five years.

Residents, who claimed that they have for years been battling in vain to get the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) to unleash its resources to stamp out the environmental and health hazard in the area, blamed the widespread illegal practice of burning old vehicle tyres on the city’s ‘failure’ to take a tough stance against those involved.

However, the city told this publication the relevant department had ways to curb air pollution. According to the city’s investigation, some individuals burn the vehicle tyres to recover the metal thread from the tyres and resell the recovered wires to scrap yards.

The latest tyre burning, reported on August 24, led to a runaway veld fire which, fuelled by wind, rapidly spread towards Main Reef Road, very close to homes and municipal infrastructure, such as a substation.

Apart from the effects of the air pollution caused by the toxic smoke, residents fear damage to their properties from these fires.

A resident, Andrew Lee and other residents have engaged with authorities for years to get them to curb the dangerous practice.
Lee said the CoE has failed them dismally.

“As previously, they reported this latest fire, but not the fire brigade, nor anyone else showed up or responded to the complaint.
“We convened meetings with the relevant departments for the past five years, appealing to the city to put an end to these dangerous practices in the open veld around us, but nothing has changed,” Lee said.

According to residents, the burning of tyres usually starts just after sunset.

Another concerned resident, Charlene Day, said she recently called the metro police after she spotted a truck loaded with tyres entering the area, but they requested her to, along with fellow residents, take matters into her own hands because the EMPD lacked resources to attend to the complaint.
“I was told that we as a community must flag down the trucks, switch their engines off, take the keys, and wait for EMPD to come to impound the truck. This will put our lives in danger. I had weapons pointed at me while only taking photos of these trucks transporting tyres. Imagine what could go wrong if I had to physically engage with these guys,” said Day.

The community called for urgent intervention of the mayoral office to address the tyre-burning complaint in Lilianton.

“We simply cannot keep on filing complaints with no results. Tyre burning happens in our area almost daily, and we see the same culprits transporting tyres through our neighbourhood to their nearby burning spots.

“The EMPD is required in our area to deal with and eradicate the transportation and burning of waste tyres. The new bylaw, as promulgated in 2021 according to Section 41 (1) (3) and (4) is not fully used by the EMPD to make arrests and impound vehicles in contravention of the bylaw.

“We are tax-paying citizens who cannot accept the EMPD has no resources.

“I, on many occasions, have addressed these issues with relevant stakeholders in the municipality and was told that they are investigating the matter in the area. It, however, seems there has been no tangible outcome with the investigation as there has not been proper communication with the community or a plan of action to halt the burning of tyres.

“The law on this matter is clear. The National Environmental Management: Waste Act (59/2008)1: Waste Tyre Regulations, 2017 read together with the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act instructs that duty of care should be taken when disposing of any tyre waste materials. South Africa’s Air Quality Act of 2004 put in place various measures for preventing pollution and national norms and standards for regulating air quality in the country.

“The air pollution in and around the Lilianton area has been reported many times to the city by several residents, and despite all the evidence submitted, including photographs of the vehicles involved, they have held no one responsible for the practice.

Day said apart from causing air pollution, the highly toxic chemicals emitted by the burning tyres threaten their health.

“I am suffering from a medical condition called cerebrovascular disease because of the tyre burning. Other residents suffer from sinus-related health issues and lung diseases, as they expose us to the tyre smoke.”

CoE responds
According to city spokesperson Zweli Dlamini, the city will take the following steps to deal with the problem:

• The EMPD will be the contact point regarding complaints and we will discuss this with the complainants during the blitz.
• ER&WM and EHPs will continue with investigations regarding the source of the waste tyres and scrap dealers.
• ER&WM will issue notices to non-compliant tyre dealers.
• We will request the Waste Bureau Agency to assist with the safe disposal of confiscated waste tyres.
• The roads and stormwater department will form part of the task team.

• The ER&WM and health (air and noise pollution section) are to write a letter to the landowner highlighting their responsibility in terms of the NEMA and by-laws.
• Consult with the Legal Department on enforcement issues.

Who should the residents approach when they encounter such problems in their neighbourhood?

A municipality is a multiple-department organisation with different responsibilities. In terms of bylaw enforcement, trespassing, and crime-related matters such as illegal dumping and others. it remains the EMPD`s responsibility.

Environmental pollution and other related matters remain the pre-requisite of the Department of Waste and Environmental Resources.

Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) in the city remain the sole responsibility for extinguishing fires.
We encourage the public to phone the emergency Life Threatening Call Centre Number on 011- 458 0911, to dispatch the nearest fire station crews to attend to the matter.

Are the relevant departments equipped enough to deal with the problem?
Fire and rescue services are resourceful enough to address life-threatening emergencies. T
he primary responsibility of the department is the preservation of lives and properties threatened by either natural or man-made phenomena.

Has the city ever investigated to find the source of these second-hand tyres?
A multi-disciplinary task team investigated and found individuals burn truck tyres to remove the wire and then resell the wire to scrapyards.

Landowners
Boksburg Advertiser in 2014 and 2019 reported on the issues caused by the burning of tyres in this area.

Following complaints from residents about the pollution in 2019, the city said they deployed a team to investigate.
Already in 2014, they promised to take action against those involved, including the property owners.

The then-city spokesperson, Themba Gadebe, said, “We have referred the matter to the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for the operation of an illegal dumping site, and we currently taking legal steps against the owner of the land.”

He pointed out that the municipality’s environmental health department had served a notice to the owners of the stand, and the owners agreed to have all entrances to the premises blocked off with heaps of soil so that nobody could enter the premises.

“However, the community reopened the entrance to let trucks dump again.
“The owners again tried to close the road, but the community again threatened them,” explained Gadebe.