‘Waar is ons councillor?’

Residents in Fairleigh have become fed up with what they say, is the short end of the stick as far as service delivery goes.

For a long time, residents living in the ‘train houses’ and the flats in Fairleigh, have been cleaning up after the municipal waste removal team has swept through.

Taking to the area around the skip placed at the bottom of the cul de sac by the ‘train houses’ with brooms and rakes, the residents have been forced to clean up after the workers leave every week.

“Ons is nou gatvol,” said one resident. “It cannot carry on like this. They come and collect the rubbish, but they leave all the bags around the skips just like that.”

One of the young women spoke up, saying if the workers did not want to work, they should fire the lot and hire the unemployed residents in the area.

“Some of us are sitting with BA degrees, but no jobs. The coloured men are just sitting here, but they want to work. Give their jobs to us and we will show them,” she said.

The rubbish allegedly left by municipal workers was set alight inside the skip, in an attempt to somehow lessen the effects of the rubbish on the area surrounding the homes.

“We can see how bad our houses look,” said another resident. “We can’t have rubbish lying everywhere, making it worse.”

A trip to the areas of the flats where the skips are held, showed months of garbage left to rot. Signs of fire were again prevalent.

“Look at this grass. It hasn’t been cut since who knows when,” said the resident. “Waar is ons councillor? The residents of Fairleigh flats want to know.”

According to Ward 25 Councillor Mqapheleni Ngcobo, the most likely reason for the sad state of the rubbish skips could be attributed to the recent work stoppages of municipal workers.

“The Department of Community Services has returned to work and has started to cut grass and empty rubbish bins,” said Cllr Ngcobo. “The situation is as normal now.”