SEDIBENG. – The more Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) shakes because of its financial difficulties, the deeper it sinks.

The municipality announced on Monday that it has not been able to collect household waste across the municipality as scheduled because its Waste Department has a limited number of rear-end loader compactor trucks in operation and that this has affected service delivery “severely”.

The ELM reported that its Waste Department is now left with five (5) operational compactor trucks and several broken-down trucks that cannot be repaired due to their age. Furthermore, the attachment of its bank account and nine (9) compactor trucks by the Sherriff of the Court last December is said to have contributed to the current situation.

The municipality said that it required thirty-eight (38) trucks to service all communities as per its daily waste collection schedule. In an attempt to continue with the service, the ELM had been using hired trucks, to supplement the five, however, this has stopped due to the Municipal Finance Management processes.

Meanwhile, it is already evident that the towns of Vereeniging and Vanderbijlpark, and local townships are on the verge of rotting as local communities have resorted to dumping rubbish in any open space.

The ELM said: “While the municipality works in every possible effort to normalise service, residents are requested to use the closest landfill sites and transfer facilities to dispose of waste until further notice. Affected residents are discouraged from dumping their waste in municipal buildings and any of the open spaces. No illegal dumping is allowed for health, safety, and environmental reasons.”