Illegal dumping under council’s noses

A section of Coronation Park is becoming an illegal dumping site right under the nose of the Mogale City Parks Department.

On a recent visit to the park, which the council earmarked for a R22 million dream park redevelopment, the news noticed a fresh truckload of fabric dumped at the site.

Derrick Williams, a resident of Coronation Park’s caravan park was busy sifting through the garbage, which allegedly was dumped by a fabric factory in Chamdor, to see if there was anything he could use.

“I want to make cushions with it so that I can sell it to put food on the table.”

He says the ongoing dumping is not something new as trucks regularly are seen offloading garbage and rubble.

During a previous site visit the news caught staff from a car dealership situated on Luipaard Street red-handed when they were about to dump building rubble until photos were taken and they were asked to leave. Where they dumped the rubble afterwards is not known.

The car dealership was contacted and asked as to why they were not using the municipal dumping site.

“Building rubble … are you at the right place? We are a car dealership,” was their answer.

An email with photographs of the bakkie with their logos and contact details then was sent for comment.

There are several piles of building rubble on the site that illustrate the council’s ongoing battle to keep the city free from illegal dumping.

Strangely enough the Parks Department office is right at the entrance of the park. There is no way that the department is unaware of the problem, but nothing is being done to curb it.

The news therefore invites the media representative to contact news journalist Jacobus Myburgh to discuss the issue.

Queries forwarded to the municipal spokesperson Nkosana Zali about the municipality’s plans to curb the ongoing illegal dumping and the implications for people committing such illegal acts remain unanswered.