Briardene community plagued with illegal dumping

CARDBOARD, broken household furniture, off-cuts from tombstones and hundreds of dirty plastics are among the rotting waste dumped illegally at a Briardene informal settlement.

The settlement, located just off Krishna Road, has been facing the issue of waste being dumped in the area, with residents pointing to tenants renting out rooms and local businesses as the culprits.

Resident Don Shange says this is happening because the area is overpopulated.

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“The root of the issue of illegal dumping here is because landlords who are renting out rooms are failing to teach their tenants how to dispose of their rubbish the correct way. The majority of the tenants do not know that refuse gets collected on Wednesdays here, and so they just throw rubbish any day and anywhere.

“The community does not have leadership structures in place for the overseeing of the community to ensure that things are done correctly. We had a committee before, but it became obsolete because of the influence of politics. Now that the community is without leadership, people are doing as they please as there’s no one to reprimand them,” said Shange.

Shange said he is aware of some businesses operating in the area discarding waste illegally.

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“There is a man who resides here and has a business that manufactures tombstones – he dumps off-cuts from the tombstones in the area. We have also seen bakkies full of waste just coming and dumping here,” he said.

Contacted by Northglen News, the owner of ZZ Handman, Zeca Chiconela, confirmed that the tombstone off-cuts are from his business. He says he placed them there because a local lady asked him to as she would be starting a brick-manufacturing business.

Ward 36 councillor Shontel de Boer says that people are not educated to know they should only take out their rubbish on Wednesdays for collection.

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“We have clean-up campaigns in the area, and we have converted one area into a soup kitchen and another one into a vegetable garden. It is an ongoing process where educational programmes are being conducted to teach people the right way to throw away garbage. In terms of businesses dumping in the area, it’s the failure of the law enforcement from DSW because they’re not doing enough to stop them,” said De Boer.

eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela says the unit is currently assessing the situation and formulating a plan to clear illegal dumps in the area.

“This will not be sustainable if residents continue to dump waste irresponsibly. The unit has implemented a number of waste management education programmes aimed at educating the public on the dangers caused by illegal dumping. This has been coupled by clean-up campaigns that were meant to eradicate the illegal dumpsite,” said Mayisela.

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