Tshwane metro says Mnandi illegal dumping site is ‘a challenge’
"It was beautiful. Now all I have to look at is the rubbish dump when I come home. And it smells."
The Tshwane metro acknowledged that it knew of the huge illegal dumping site at Knoppieslaagte in Mnandi, Centurion.
This was after Rekord recently reported on how Knoppieslaagte residents were left to tend to the dumping problem on their own.
“This is one of the areas that the City has identified as an illegal dumping hot spot,” said metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo.
“Our waste management section has been deployed to clean such spots at least once a week.”
He conceded that the site presented a “challenge” for the metro, adding that it would take time to be resolved.
He, however, assured residents that the waste management team and other relevant metro departments were working tirelessly to resolve the matter.
Mashigo said that local ward councillor Themba Fosi had reported the matter to the municipality and that the waste management division was currently “in the process of addressing” the issue.
In addition to its illegal dumping clearing programme, the metro also had the anti-illegal dumping education campaigns, the mayoral Tswelopele clean-up programme and the adopt-a-spot programme – all of them intended to curb illegal rubbish dumping.
Resident Doc Van Royeen, however, refuted claims that the metro had started cleaning up the area.
“The rubble is still there,” he said.
“The place is still the same and we are still subjected to that filth and rot. There is no change in our area. The only thing the metro has done is send a metro police guy to conduct an inspection, and he told us they would return to remove all the rubble.”
Earlier this month, residents told Rekord that they had “lost count” of how many times they had reported the illegal dumping to both the municipality and local ward councillor – to no avail.
“Thirty-three years ago, all you could see was cosmos flowers,” said resident Linda Joseph.
“It was beautiful. Now all I have to look at is the rubbish dump when I come home. And it smells.”
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