Toxic fires and gunfire: Plastic City poses growing health and safety crisis

A shooting at the Weltevreden Landfill Site last week has left residents feeling unsafe and fearful, highlighting ongoing criminal activities in the vicinity of the Plastic City informal settlement.

While police visibility has since been intensified in the area, chaos erupted at around 16:00 on July 8 when armed men stormed the dump site, opened fire, and then made their way to the settlement.

According to Brakpan SAPS, a group of about 15 alleged Basotho nationals opened fire on landfill workers before moving into Plastic City and fleeing into the fields.

A 36-year-old man was shot in both thighs and taken to hospital. Police recovered 23 high-calibre shell casings at the scene, and a case of attempted murder is under investigation.

Station commander Brigadier Johanna Ngoma condemned the attack and urged the public to come forward with any information. A similar incident unfolded earlier this year when a violent outbreak occurred over the weekend of February 8 and 9, resulting in three fatalities.

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All were gunshot victims. There was also a motorbike hijacking, involving a panga attack. Dozens of residents from the settlement, including women and children, fled to the Brakpan Police Station for safety.

The motive behind this violence remains unconfirmed, although there were claims at the time of possible ethnic conflict or turf wars involving illegal mining.

The latest incident has left community members shaken. Marlene Coetzee, who lives nearby, said residents live in constant fear and frustration due to a lack of law enforcement and government intervention.

“Residents are frequently exposed to violent confrontations and gunfire spilling over from Plastic City into nearby residential areas. Criminals use the surrounding suburbs as escape routes, endangering innocent families, including children,” she said.

“Plastic City has become a hotspot for uncontrolled and highly dangerous illegal mining operations. The activity poses a serious environmental and structural risk to surrounding properties, not to mention the criminal networks that accompany such operations.

“The area is populated by hundreds of illegal immigrants living in informal, unsafe structures with no infrastructure, sanitation, or regulation. This uncontrolled growth further fuels criminal activity and puts strain on services meant for legal residents.

“Fires are constantly burning, producing thick toxic smoke which affects the health of everyone in the vicinity. This poses a severe public health risk, especially to the elderly and children.”

According to Coetzee, individuals who enter the area to recycle are being forced to pay “fees”, either per visit or weekly, to operate. Those who do not comply are threatened, intimidated or attacked.

“This is organised crime and is being allowed to continue unchecked. Despite numerous calls and complaints, there has been no effective action from SAPS, the EMPD or local government officials.

“This ongoing negligence is unacceptable and has left residents feeling abandoned by the very institutions meant to protect them,” she said.

Coetzee and other residents are calling for a full investigation into the illegal mining operations and the extortion of recyclers, increased SAPS and metro police visibility and enforcement in the area, a coordinated clean-up and relocation effort for Plastic City with appropriate oversight, monitoring of immigration status and living conditions through Home Affairs and relevant municipal departments, and regular public updates and a clear action plan from local authorities.

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“We will not remain silent while our safety, property values and basic rights as citizens are destroyed,” she added.

Ward 97 Clr Brandon Pretorius said there is no denying that Brakpan residents, particularly those in Ward 97, are facing an ongoing crisis that threatens not only their public safety but also the continuity of service delivery and the stability of the town’s infrastructure.

“The most recent shooting, believed to be related to conflicts among illegal miners on the Weltevreden Landfill Site, has resulted not only in the closure of the landfill site but has more far-reaching consequences in the ward,” he said.

“Plastic City remains the umbrella under which most illegal activities in the ward are hidden. Despite the illegal settlement being home to a large number of undocumented foreign nationals, many of whom are believed to be directly involved in illegal activities, it seems as if they are untouchable and that the law does not apply to them.

“The settlement over the past few months has turned into a hotspot for shootings, turf wars and criminal intimidation, all of which, once again, has a direct and devastating impact on the law-abiding, rate-paying residents of Brakpan.”

Pretorius revealed that municipal employees have been threatened by illegal miners in Brakpan and forced to abandon their work.

“There is a trench along Hospital Road that needs to be opened to prevent flooding and to allow for pothole repairs, but the intimidation from the miners has made it impossible for crews to operate safely as they are purposely blocking the trench to use the water, not caring about the effect that it has,” he said.

“This is not just a crime issue, it is a community emergency that directly affects the municipality’s ability to deliver services, maintain infrastructure and keep residents safe. Despite reaching out to the mayor and the city manager, there is just no care for the destruction caused.”

Pretorius has officially written to the Minister of Home Affairs, calling for immediate intervention to deal with the issue of illegal immigration and its link to these criminal activities, explaining the effect that it has and continues to have on Brakpan.

“We need national support to ensure that Plastic City, the main cause of the problem, is removed. Our community continues to be held hostage by lawlessness and the residents of Brakpan, the people who follow the law, pay their rates and contribute to the growth of our town, are suffering the consequences of a failing system that sees the police being afraid of implementing the law, or worse, being involved,” he said.

“I have urged all relevant authorities from the local and metro level to national government to take decisive action. The need for law enforcement, accountability, and protection has been explained. Plastic City and illegal mining will not continue to take from Brakpan, the town’s residents won’t allow it.”

With regards to combatting crime in the area, Buthelezi affirmed that police are actively monitoring the alleged criminal activities in Plastic City.

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She explained that Brakpan SAPS Crime Prevention members, the POP Unit (Public Order Police) and the Ekurhuleni District Task Team are deployed in the area.

“SAPS regularly conducts multi-disciplinary operations in Plastic City to specifically tackle illegal mining activities,” she said.
Buthelezi also confirmed that local police are receiving provincial and district support.

Community crime-fighting efforts in the settlement is also a priority and Buthelezi has visited Plastic City several times, and encouraged community members to form a CPF structure.

“Even though they have not formally registered as CPF members, there is a team of community leaders who liaise with law enforcement on community matters,” she said.

When asked about the allegations that some police officers are either too afraid to act or may be complicit, she told the Herald this matter has never been brought to their attention.

As for the alleged extortion of recyclers, Buthelezi stated SAPS is continuously conducting awareness campaigns in Plastic City.

“The police have educated community members at Plastic City about extortion, and we are always calling on community members to come forward and report such criminality,” she added.

Comment is awaited from the CoE.