An escalating crisis of illegal dumping and river pollution is plaguing the Hazyview area, with growing mounds of refuse staining the landscape and waterways, and perpetrators often escaping any form of punishment.

While the residents blame the the City of Mbombela (CoM) by-law enforcement to address the illegal dumping and polluting he rivers.

Residents and local businesses are contributing to the blight, leading to severe environmental damage, particularly to the Nkambeni River, which feeds directly into the Sabie River.

The river, a vital part of the local ecosystem, is now visibly choked with all manner of debris, including rubble, plastics, used diapers, and building materials.

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Streets and open spaces across Hazyview are similarly littered with garbage, transforming once-clean areas into unofficial dumpsites.

A resident living near the Nkambeni River lamented the rapid decline, noting: “The area is now filthy with debris of garbage since the skips were removed late last year. Now even local businesses are now using the river stream to dump their refuse. The residents are also doing the same and they are not being cleaned by the City of Mbombela (CoM) even though we have asked them to remove it.”

The core of the problem appears to be a systemic breakdown involving lack of proper infrastructure and perceived dysfunction in law enforcement.

Many residents and businesses acknowledge the wrongfulness of their actions but claim they have been left with no viable alternative for waste disposal.

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This problem was exacerbated by the removal of skips that had been strategically placed in key locations.

Some of the local business who wanted to remain anonymous said: “We used to have big dustbins on part of the R538 where we used to dump our garbage, but they were removed without notifying us. So we had no choice but to use the nearest rivers to dump our refuse. We must also say that the dysfunctional of the by-law enforcement is also cause of the growing illegal dumping and polluting the rivers.”

The sentiment among the residents interviewed by Mpumalanga News points to a lack of service by the CoM, including the absence of an official and accessible dumping site in the area and inadequate by-law enforcement.

At the time of publication, the CoM’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, was not available for comment.