Unlawfulness in Germiston CBD calls for business outcry
Residents remain frustrated with having to pay for municipal services and incurring extra costs to tackle these projects.
Businesses in the Germiston CBD continue to be plagued by illegal activities and the municipality’s poor waste management.
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Waste, illegal gambling and unrestrained public alcohol-drinking activities are still major problems in the Germiston CBD.
The City of Ekurhuleni supports the “do it yourself” philosophy adopted by communities across the city, which is what residents have resorted to with an increasing number of clean-up initiatives, pothole repair projects and more.
Residents remain frustrated with having to pay for municipal services and incurring extra costs to tackle these projects.
Business owners in the Germiston CBD expressed concern about garbage collection which put their day-to-day operations at risk.
These frustrations were shared in response to ongoing reportage on the poor state of Germiston.
The Germsiton city News often reports on illegal dumping as residents complain about inadequate infrastructure, which leads to illegal dumping.
Soweto Wholesalers manager Ismail Mohammad said there are not enough pedestrian bins for the volume of rubbish.
“The smell of all the dirt comes to my shop as the recyclers shred the plastic on the streets. When it’s hot, it is worse.
“Despite having a bin large enough to handle my weekly waste, the front of my shop looks terrible and smells bad.”
Muhammad proposed that the CoE put trash cans for pedestrians on the opposite side of the road.
Observations
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One block away from Muhammad’s shop is a food establishment that is run and operated by Thalwukanyo Tshisonga, who has expressed concerns over general health and sanitation.
At the corner of Meyer Street and FH Odendaal, there is a skip overflowing with rubbish. At the same spot, water can be seen running down the road.
People drink in public and gamble and often some are spotted urinating on the walls of Dumisani Theatre.
The monument honouring the late actor Masilela, the Dumisani Masilela Theatre, is meant to be the city’s source of pride and delight.
“There have been no improvements achieved in any of the five points of the present DA-led multiparty coalition government’s attempts to the back-to-basics service delivery approach,” Tshisonga said.
Most recently CoE identified a shortage of waste trucks as a cause for waste backlogs. The adjusted budget was adopted to address this shortage. However, streets in the CBD still look terrible.
“The city does not remove the trash from the pavements. The waste pickers are limited in what they can do.
“All the rubbish on the pavements has become impossible for the waste pickers to remove. I keep the front of my shop clean and I encourage other business owners to do the same,” said Tshisonga.
The GCN sent a media inquiry to City of Ekurhuleni, requesting comment by March 17 at 12:00.
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CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini acknowledged the email and requested an extension on the deadline for further investigations. GCN extended the deadline to March 20 at 10:00.
At the time of going to print, no comment had been received.
