Few dumping sites remain
Dumping sites continue to close, forcing some people to illegal dumping.
Pretoria appears to be running out of legal dumping sites.
There are only five open sites remaining and one of them is expected to close before the end of the year.
Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the Derdepoort, Valhalla, Temba, Kwaggasrand and Garstkloof dumping sites had all been closed.
All had reached capacity and the city had to close them.
The Onderstepoort dumping site was next in line and scheduled to be closed by the end of the year.
The only metro dumpsites currently operational were Onderstepoort, Hatherley, Soshanguve, Ga-Rankuwa, and Bronkhorstspruit.
“In addition to the Tshwane landfill sites, there are also two privately-owned licensed landfill sites that can be used for disposal of waste, which are operated by The Waste Group. They are Mooiplaats and Bon Accord,” said Mashigo.
Democratic Alliance ward councillor Ina Strijdom has slammed the lack of dumping sites, saying this was a root cause of illegal dumping.
“This is unacceptable. When people don’t have anywhere to take their refuse, or have to drive far to do so, it leads to more instances of illegal dumping,” she said.
“People already pay taxes to be able to take items to a dumpsite. Now, if they don’t want to drive to the north of Pretoria, they have to pay again.”
She cited the closure of the Valhalla dumping site, saying it undoubtedly brought a rise in illegal dumping in the area.
“These days it takes two days to clear all the dustbins in Valhalla, as the refuse trucks have to drive so far every time to dump it,” she said.
“Now this ends up costing the city more money. An urgent solution needs to be found.”
Also read:
Dump site issues being addressed
Illegal dumping still plagues residents
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