While many residents sometimes have to wait for days for their rubbish to be removed, some municipal workers are using the refuse removal truck to make
money on the side.
This week, observant residents sent the Herald a video showing a group of municipal workers from the refuse department offloading scrap metal that they had salvaged from the truck. The video was taken at a scrap metal dealer in Carletonville just after 12:00 on a working day.
The video clearly shows the workers, who are driving in a municipal rubbish truck with the registration number DP 97 BK GP, casually offloading items they have gathered to be sold as scrap metal.
When one of the residents who took the video pointed out that what they were doing constitutes corruption, a worker replied that they were ‘making money’.
When the person behind the lens argued that they were already earning salaries
from the municipality for the work that they were supposed to be doing, he had no answer.
‘It is not right that these municipal workers get away with things like this because they get paid to do their job with our hard-earned taxes,’ said one of the concerned residents who took the video.
As far as could be determined, other residents have complained to the municipality
about the same issue before.
The Herald contacted the municipality for comment on Tuesday.
‘The matter and evidence was brought to the attention of the waste section and the manager has undertaken to investigate the matter. The appropriate action
will be taken’ a municipal spokesperson responded.
The video of the workers being caught red-handed can be viewed on the Herald’s website at www.carletonvilleherald.com