Ugly rubbish heaps have sprung up in many parts of Carletonville again.

One of the worst affected areas is along the extension of Onyx Drive towards the R501. Litterbugs dump rubbish between the trees and in the veld.

A caring member of the public took photos of a woman dumping her rubbish in this area recently.

Regular dumping also takes place next to the edges of Carletonville Ext 9 and in other open areas in town.

According to one of the town’s ward councillors, Dawie Harman, there is no excuse for residents dumping their rubbish in open areas.

Another problem he has noticed is that the municipality does not pick up bags of garden refuse left out by residents, even if the bags are full of leaves that fell from trees planted by the municipality on sidewalks.

Because of this, residents of some streets, such as Lobelia Street, have started to rake the leaves into heaps on the sidewalks and set them alight.

Although this gets rid of the leaves, it is extremely unhealthy as the smoke negatively affects many residents’ airways, especially those of children.

The only other way that these residents can get rid of the rubbish is if they take it to the Rooipoort rubbish dumping site. Except for the long drive, people have to pay to dump extra refuse there.

Harman believes that the problems can be solved if the municipality puts out large metal bins in certain areas so that residents can dump their black bags with extra garden and other refuse inside.

The Herald took the issue to the municipality recently, but received no response.