However, the complaints of bribery and intimidation at local landfill sites, while refuse removal has been suspended over the last two weeks by the ongoing municipal strike, are one-sided, says a local business owner.

Mr Alf Barker, the owner of Skippy 4 U, has brushed off complaints that security and municipal law enforcement are unfairly soliciting bribes and fines to innocent residents who dump their waste at landfill sites.

“Illegal dumping has become an enormous crisis in Middelburg that most residents have a large part in, and the complaints of intimidation and bribery at landfill sites are coming from people who are guilty.”

Mr Barker said the allegations that security at the landfill site situated near Twizza are charging fees up to R1 000, is nonsense.

“Residents who visit local landfill sites to discard private waste are not being charged to do so, but companies who provide refuse removal services are required to purchase coupons from the municipality, which are then handed over to the security at these landfill sites. The R1 000 fee that is being asked from security is not for disposal of private waste, but a fee incurred for businesses who do not purchase coupons.”

Despite Mr Barker’s acknowledgement of the fact that security personnel are taking advantage of illegal dumpers to solicit bribes, he pointed out that the biggest complainants are taking shortcuts themselves.

“We have seen with the last strike that there were several residents who saw an opportunity to earn an income, by offering to drive away refuse for R10 or R20 per bag. They pitch up at landfill sites with bakkies and trailers loaded with waste, and then expect to dump it free of charge.”

Mr Barker pointed out that naturally, some security guards have picked up on certain individuals who return with several loads of waste, and have seen an opportunity themselves to charge a fee and earn three times their salary by doing so.

“If you do not provide coupons, and provide waste removal as a service, then yes, you are going to pay.”

Mr Barker added that most of these complaints are coming from fly-by knights who are quick to partake in illegal dumping, and first to complain when they get fined for it.

“The same applies to residents who complain about being issued fines by municipal law enforcement for dumping at the Dennesig landfill site. These residents are not dumping within the landfill site premises, but next to the road leading to it. Fines should be issued for illegal dumping.”

Mr Barker also mentioned that residents play a large role in illegal dumping, and then want to complain about the streets and parks being littered.

“Those residents and businesses who place their rubbish into large municipal bins, like at the Tosca Centre, do so knowing that those bins are not going to be emptied. They then want to complain about the state of our parks but keep adding waste to the growing piles instead of making the trip to one of the landfill sites.”

He concluded that coupons are here to stay, no matter who complains, and that refuse removal companies should make peace with it.

“The biggest problem is that the municipality has no control over landfill sites or illegal dumping.”