Counting the cost of illegal dumping

As winter approaches, various sites around Centurion have become focus areas where residents are confronted by health and safety hazards they have said arise from illegal dumping.

Fires frequently break out at one such spot in The Reeds, where firefighters previously had to use heavy machinery to get to the source of a fire.

Lyttelton Manor and Eldoraigne residents grapple with mounds of waste left by informal recyclers, while residents of Mnandi and Raslouw on the outskirts of Centurion face the daily battle of growing illegal dump sites.

A resident in Johann Street in Raslouw, who wants to remain anonymous, said that the dump sites were not just unsightly, but fostered other dangers.

He said the electricity boxes outside the homes were frequently broken into and cables stolen.

“There is so much crime here. It’s not violent crime, but you worry about when it will happen.”

He has taken to installing his own locks on the electricity boxes to try stop the thefts, but it only slows them down.

“We can’t put our dustbins out in front because they get stolen. So I take my trailer and dump the rubbish myself.”

Mayor Cilliers Brink said the issue was costing the city millions.

“The city of Tshwane spends about R30-million a year on cleaning up illegal dumping,” he said at a clean-up campaign in Pretoria North

“Of course, as we achieve a financial recovery, we can spend more.”

Brink said illegal dumping could be prevented in the first place, and promised stricter control.

“We shouldn’t have illegal dumping, so law enforcement is going to become much stricter,” he said.

He also urged the community to be vigilant in protecting the city’s open spaces.

Brink said the small group of people who were the illegal dumping culprits should be pressured to stop.

He urged residents to use the facilities available.

“Please don’t ruin communities by dumping anywhere. You can expect far tougher law enforcement where we will be confiscating vehicles that dump illegally.”

Metro police were yet to respond to Rekord questions.

MMC for utilities Themba Fosi echoed the mayor.

Speaking about the illegal dumping in Raslouw, Fosi told Rekord the metro was trying to work with land owners to combat the problem.

“We have sent out a letter to the property owner so that we can start the process of getting some action there,” he said.

He said fostering partnerships with the private sector was crucial to tackling problems.

“We are monitoring that with the metro police, but it is not enough.

“We need active citizenry.

“They need to report [it] when there is illegal dumping. Take the number plates of the vehicles that are dumping and send them to us so we can follow-up and impose fines on those people.”

Fosi said that an influx of people looking for opportunities had worsened the problems as they resorted to breaking the law.

“This has been escalated to the MMC of environment so that they can intervene and make sure that as we fight the illegality of what is taking place, it has to remain clean.

“In the next financial year, we have budgeted about R110-million that will assist [in fighting] illegal dumping.”

He said the metro was also working to empower residents and encouraged them to start initiatives such as clean-up campaigns.

“The community upliftment precincts (CUPs) is an initiative run by the mayor through his office to make sure that we allow residents to adopt a spot or run clean-up campaigns where they can be responsible for their area and take ownership of the upkeep.

“These projects could not only help address the illegal dumping, but also become a force for good, such as setting up food gardens that could benefit NGOs.”

Fosi said illegal dumping and criminality cost the city time, money and resources, adding that it was an issue that affected the metro as well as residents.

“When people are not using electricity because of an outage caused by this, we are not making money out of it.

“The criminal elements are affecting our residents. Illegal connections and sporadic criminality are rampant across the country. Active citizenry is one way we can make sure that this thing doesn’t raise its ugly head.”

[WATCH] The City spends about R30 million per year cleaning up illegal dumping.

These are funds that could go to core services if we all stopped littering. #KeepTshwaneClean #TswelopeleCleanUp

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