Illegal dumping: One down, hundreds to go in KwaDukuza

Much to the relief of Groutville resident,Tongaat the overfilled skip placed just across his home has been cleared out by KwaDukuza municipality.

The skip was overflowing with rubbish and abused by non-residents who used the site to dump waste they should have been taking to the landfill. According to Msomi the skip was placed there a year ago and had only been cleared out once before elections. In a previous article in The Courier, Msomi claimed the municipality had not found a solution to illegal dumping but that they were contributing to the creation of a health hazard.

“About three days after the illegal dumping article was published in the North Coast Courier, I received a call from a municipal worker who I was previously in contact with. She would always say that there was nothing she could do but this time she said that she wanted to inform me that the skip would be removed.”

Msomi said that although he was glad the skip was removed, not all the waste was cleared out.

“The skip was overflowing with rubbish. It was littered all over the ground and workers were lazy because they only cleared out the skip but did not pick up the rubbish. Residents did their job by clearing out the final rubbish from the ground,” he said.

Although one skip has been cleared by the municipality, many other communities still face the plight of illegal dumps on their doorstep.

Tongaat and KwaDukuza are two areas that have seen an increase in dumping.

Sagren Govensamy from Arbee Drive in Tongaat told The Courier that the area “stinks”.

“Recently people have a don’t care attitude and they just throw their rubbish everywhere. Because there are many bars in Tongaat, bottles were a problem. Now it is no longer just bottles but bags and bags of waste on the side of the road,” said Govensamy.

While in Stanger an illegal dumpsite in Chief Albert Luthuli street has become a common place for people to dispose of their waste.

A homeless man Sondi Zulu said he suspects the waste comes from nearby restaurants because he always finds food thrown in the waste.

“If I come here every afternoon at around three, I know I will find left overs thrown in bin plastics. There are also a lot of bottles and paper plates.”

Those caught dumping illegaly can be fined up to R 8156 and would have to pay for the municipality to clear the site.

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