Residents of Kagiso are up in arms over a dump-site situated in a residential area. The heap of rubbish is at the corner of Shaka Drive and Sir Seretse Kgama Street in Kagiso.
Residents complain that the rubbish has resulted in an infestation of rats, caused illnesses in their children (who play along the street) and the bad smell makes life unbearable.
Patricia Rasego, whose house is situated opposite the rubbish heap, said that she has tried everything in her power to get the municipality to clean up the area.
“This problem has been going on since 2009. We complained to the local Ward 13 councillor, who asked us to write a letter. We did so, but nothing was done. We then went to the office of the Speaker several times, and they agreed to remove the rubbish – but they did nothing. We are tired of complaining about this,” she told the News.
Three years ago Patricia and her husband, Shimane, cleaned up the place with a group of other residents including a neighbor, Mmapalo Lethuloe, but a month later people were dumping on the site yet again.
“We don’t have the authority to tell people to stop dumping here. Most of them just swear at us. We pleaded with the councillor to help us turn the space in to a mini-park for our children or to create a vegetable garden but all those pleas fell on deaf ears,” said the concerned Patricia.
“We are aware of this problem and have made it clear that dumping in that space is illegal. We urge the community to abstain from illegal dumping which usually occurs at night. According to my knowledge, the open space in question does not belong to the municipality. I will however, conduct investigations to find out whether the municipality now owns it or not, and how we can solve this problem,” said Gilbert Gaselebelwe, Community Liaison Officer.
The News also spoke to councillor Johannes Mpanza, but he claims to be unaware of the issue. “I have not received any complaints from the community about this because usually when there is such an issue we refer it to the appropriate municipal departments to come and clean the space. I will speak to the Community Liaison Officer and get back to you,” he said.
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