Culprits illegally dumping refuse in Meena Place had better clean up their act.
Fed-up residents will be keeping a close watch and hefty fines may soon be dished out to those flouting the municipal bylaw. Rafia Ahmed of Meena Place complained, “I’m fed up with all the dumping that is taking place right on my driveway.”
In fact the whole area seems to be so messy that even the garbage collectors seem to have given up and have ignored refuse bags placed on the sidewalks by residents and on some occasions have even refused to pick up the bags.
Ismail Motala, who resides in Meena Place, tried to tackle the dumping dilemma himself. For 10 years he and a group of boys from the area cleaned up the sport grounds on Meena Place.
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He did this because the grounds offered youngsters the chance to play sport and stay off the streets. In 2014 the sport ground was converted into a park and all sport activities ground to a halt.
Now instead of running shoes, balls and smiles, the park is littered with refuse. Presently, the park does have a swing, a seesaw, a jungle gym and a table but according to Junaid and Ismail Motala, no one uses them – the seesaw is broken and the table top was stolen by vandals.
Desperate to have council attend to the problem, some irate Meena Place residents contacted Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) councillor Abbas Warasally, who stated, “For many years the ground and area was kept in pristine condition but now it has become a dumping site and a place where children go to use drugs.”
Abbas suggested the community unite to put an end to the dumping in Meena Place once and for all. He committed to taking the matter up with the municipality requesting that the grounds be returned to its former glory.
Alfred Duma Local Municipality’s communications manager, Siyabonga Maphalala, warns that those caught dumping illegally will be slapped with a hefty R1000 fine or even a short jail sentence.
Repeat offenders will receive a further R500 fine.
It is uncertain, however, whether this bylaw is strictly enforced and when the last fine was actually issued. Siyabonga further confirmed that residents are permitted to place six refuse bags on the sidewalks for collection, two domestic refuse bags and four garden refuse bags.
If municipal garbage collectors fail to pick up or refuse to remove refuse they can be reported to Cleansing and Solid Waste department on 0366311777
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