Hawkers clean streets with fire
It has become a regular occurrence to see smoke emanating from burning refuse bins in the Central Business District.
POLOKWANE – It has become a regular occurrence to see smoke emanating from burning refuse bins in the Central Business District.
Hawkers and informal street sale stall owners say they are being blamed for the filthy state of the city’s streets.
In light of this, they decided to burn the refuse in the overflowing refuse bins, in order to make space for the rest of the refuse that was usually seeing lying scattered all over the pavements and streets.
“People who drive by say that we are making the city look like a pigsty and that we think it is okay to sell food amid a pile of rubbish. It is for this reason that we decided to take a stand,” Josephine Mogotlane, a stall owner in Rissik Street, said.
People living in the area said they were also fed up with overflowing refuse bins. “If the municipality cared about what the city looked like, they would either clean these bins daily or put more bins in place to be used. There are many businesses in the city that make use of the bins and they are filled quickly. The municipality must make arrangements to deal with the amount of rubbish and help make the city look like the capital of Limpopo it is,” Moses Mabotja, a hawker, said.
Municipal spokesperson, Malesela Maubane said the municipality had people working around the clock to make sure refuse was being collected. He warned that the burning of refuse was illegal and people found guilty of doing this could be fined. “The municipality will be looking into the matter, but there is no reason for the residents to go to such extremes. The municipality is looking after the city and rubbish is being removed daily,” he said.
