Refuse: Standerton is in a deplorable state

Lekwa Municipality indicated that refuse will only be collected twice a month.

According to Corné Stoltz, councillor of the Freedom Front Plus in Meyerville, one refuse removal truck leaks water, while the hydraulic arm on the other has broken.

Stoltz said rubbish in Ward 4 has not been collected for three weeks.

“Why does Lekwa not take this into account when calculating the monthly amount payable to them?” he asked.

Residents still have to pay for full municipal services.

According to the councillor, a business in the industrial area was prepared to repair the trucks at their own cost, but the municipality did not take up the offer. The municipality argued that the business was not on its supply line.

“What is more important? To deliver a service or to make money?”

Stoltz furthermore called it scandalous and said Lekwa could have workers doing day shift and night shifts to collect rubbish in Standerton.

He also said the bulldozer and front loader have not been operational for three months.

As regards the supply line, a bag of tar costing R28 for road repairs will cost R140 going through the channels of the supply line.

“The supply line is corrupt,” he also said.

In one case the tyres on a vehicle burst and the municipality were unable to get tyres with the right specifications.

A business in town, not on the supply line, sell these tyres with the correct specifications. He also raised the thorny issue of workers being paid while not working.

“The municipality has no crisis management and should have a plan A, B and C,” he added.

Rubbish at this stage is dumped next to the entrance of the dumping site on Secunda Road.

The councillor also queried the use of ‘illegal dumping sites’ as used by Lekwa, saying the word ’illegal’ can not be used since there are no approved bylaws.

According to him, the municipality refuses to accept the custodianship of the bylaws.

Wilma Venter, Freedom Front Plus Clr for Ward 10, said on January 5 her information was that Lekwa has two trucks, two are in for repairs and another two are scheduled for repairs next week.

The Standerton Advertiser also contacted the DA councillor, Sithi Silosini, the past week about the dumping site in Standerton.

Silosini said a dumping site has to adhere to environmental standards and referred to the 2019 court case against Lekwa about conditions at the dumping site.

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The newspaper sent a WhatsApp message to Thando Nkosi, the communications officer of the municipality, on Friday, January 6.

“Will the fact that refuse is only collected twice a month be taken into account when calculating monthly payments?” was asked.

Nkosi replied that the question will be forwarded to the relevant department and that she is waiting for feedback.

She quoted the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (Act No 59 of 2008): National Domestic Waste Collection Standards Sec 9 later in the morning.

This states, b) When the scheduled municipal services are interrupted for whatever reason, the municipality must resume the service as soon as is practical and address all backlogs as a matter of priority and c) when the collection has been missed, the waste must be removed no later than on the next scheduled collection day.

“When refuse collection service resumes, we collect all refuse including the ones from the week that it was not collected,” she concluded.