Residents demand action of illegal dumping near botanical garden

Residents in Silverton, Meyerspark and surrounding areas are calling on Tshwane to permanently deal with the mountainous piles of building rubble and household waste on Cussonia Street and Stanza Bopape Road.

The locals fear these could be perfect spots for criminals to hide and execute potential crimes such as smash-and-grabs.

Since 2023, the area has been riddled with building rubble and household waste, which were cleared throughout this year, however dumping still continues despite efforts to quell it by the metro.

Residents also petitioned the metro last year to erect barriers along the roads to quash the illegal dumping along the area.

Tshwane vowed it would clean-up the area leading into Silverton, Brummeria and the Botanical Garden again next month and erect temporary structures to deter further dumping.

Resident Chantelle de Klerk told Rekord she has been complaining about the rubble dumped at the Cussonia Road intersection for a very long time now.

“We have been complaining about this illegal dumping and trucks dumping rubble on the side of the road since last year.
Residents regularly witness the dumping and report some but we are not receiving any feedback or response as to the plan of action.”

Another resident Mariette Smit said the continuous dumping is a grave concern.

“This has been going on for months now and we have even signed a petition started by our councillor.”

Smit said they have emailed the previous MMC for Community Safety about trucks dumping illegally but nothing has been done.

She said ratepayers are being subjected to a lack of service while taxes and levies are paid monthly.

Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the city does not condone the illegal dumping .

“There are operational landfills that users are expected to use to dispose of waste. Transgressors that are caught, are issued with fines in terms of our waste management by-laws.”

He said the city is planning a site inspection in the coming week. Clean-up activities are expected to commence at the beginning of December.

“During the clean-ups planned for December, the city will erect temporary structures that will deter further dumping until a sustainable solution is reached.”

Mashigo added that the Tshwane Metro Police Department has been asked to monitor the site to prevent illegal dumping.

“Dumping on this site is very extensive and a preliminary assessment of the site indicates that the clean-up will take a few weeks.”

He said the city anticipates that the clean-up and final installation of barriers will most likely happen in the early part of the coming year.

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram