Another Germiston CBD business has come forward to express service delivery concerns.

ALSO READ: Residents march for service delivery

Since January of this year, GCN has published several articles on CBD businesses struggling to keep their doors open, especially due to power outages.

Claude Bassani, business manager at an upholstery business in Germiston CBD on Victoria Street, complained about illegal dumping at the corner of his operations.

“Customers are complaining about the bad smell. When people pass by my shop and they see all the filth in front of my workplace, I tend to wonder what they think of the owner. It creates a bad image for our business,” he said.

“One morning I even found human waste and this caused health issues. It is unhealthy to be living and working like this. How are we supposed to breathe or eat? Who leaves their waste on the streets for someone to see?

“We have been in business for 32 years. Living conditions around the city has worsened. The only part of Germiston that is always clean is at the Germiston Civic Centre,” said Bassani.

He said the pavement outside his shop is deteriorating and the grass on the other side of the building has not been cut.

“The street lights are not working. This creates the potential for criminals to be active,” said Bassani.

The CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said an inspection was conducted that revealed that the businesses around the vicinity of the complainant dispose of refuse next to his premises.

“The complainant also confirmed that the waste originated from the neighbouring businesses. The illegal dumping was cleared,” said Dlamini.

“The service provider responsible for cleaning Germiston CBD area two was also instructed to keep the area clean as per contract agreement. The department will monitor the situation until it is normalised.

“Victoria Street’s streetlights are in the process of being repaired following vandalism and theft of our network cables.

“Theft of electrical cables from streetlight poles occur frequently around Ekurhuleni, and streetlight poles are easily reachable to the public for theft, vandalism and illegal wiring.

“Our time frame on the repairs is March 25 or before,” said Dlamini.