Illegal dumping major issue in Laudium
The dumping site in Laudium was closed after a sinkhole developed on the property and this has led to corners of Laudium being filled with waste material.
Illegal dumping in Laudium has become a major issue for the councillor’s office with Itireleng informal settlement and 19th Avenue becoming hotspots for dumping waste.
According to Shakeel Bhaktawar from the councillor’s office, illegal dumping in the area became a bigger problem after the Laudium dumping site was closed due to a sinkhole that developed on the premises.
Bhaktawar told Rekord that Laudium has since suffered from illegal dumping as the Tshwane metro has still not opened the dumping site for operation, even after the sinkhole was fixed.
Laudium does, however, have a private dumping site for residents to dump their waste material.
Bhaktawar said the problem with the private dumping site is that residents have to pay a fee of R200 for using it.
He said the residents didn’t want to pay that fee and that resulted in them dumping wherever they can.
“We have residents who pay local drug addicts small change to go and dump their rubble on 19th Avenue.
“Another problem is that there are houses with back rooms that are rented out to people so, of course, the rubbish bin is filled up quickly. They then resort to dumping their waste where they are not supposed to,” he said.
Bhaktawar added that the dumping site not only catered to Laudium residents, but to Erasmia and Claudius residents too.
“This issue has given birth to the many illegal recycling businesses that have opened up in residential properties.
“People collect waste material and sell them to the illegal recycling businesses that have risen in our area,” said Bhaktawar.
Itireleng informal settlement is based on the edge of Laudium and is not officially recognised by the Tshwane metro.
This means the settlers do not benefit from services such as dumping sites and waste collection trucks from the metro.
“The illegal dumping in Itireleng is quite bad and what makes it worse is that the area is on an open field, so the dumping occurs on an open area.
“The area is a ticking time bomb for a health crisis,” he said.
Tshwane metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo told Rekord that the Laudium dumping site is still not open because the metro is investigating the possibility of continuing with operations at the site and engaging authorities about the matter.
Mashigo said the metro is, however, not sure when the dumping site will be re-opened for operation as it will be based on the outcome of the investigations.
He said the expected time frame will be communicated to the Laudium councillor who will then engage residents that are being serviced by the site.
“Clearing of illegal dumping is a continuous programme across the metro’s seven regions. There is a dedicated team with resources to address the issue of illegal dumping,” Mashigo said.
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