The service delivery strike at Ray Nkonyeni Municipality (RNM), which has already lasted over a full month, brought to light many problematic issues in our little corner of paradise.
Various shenanigans within the municipality are being revealed, including broken agreements and unfair labour relations.
The resulting lack of refuse collection has sparked a barrage of outraged comments on community WhatsApp groups along the coastline – fair enough, considering our rates sponsor salaries and municipal services. The South Coast is covered in black bags, with clouds of flies and a dreadful stench, creating a terrible eyesore, health risks and increased litter on the beaches and in the sea.
I would like to make two comments about municipal refuse collection on the South Coast.
The first is that, in my opinion, RNM has demonstrated an appalling reluctance (or inability) to understand or institute acceptable waste management systems for many years. A visit to Oatlands a couple of years back to drop off recycling and green waste left me appalled on several levels, and I explored other recycling options.
Like at least 400 other people on the coast, I get my recyclable waste to a private recycling company or the depot in Marburg; a lot of people, including myself, make ecobricks with non-recyclable plastics, styrofoam and mixed-material stuff. In all honesty, the month-long lack of refuse collection didn’t affect me at all, apart from having to see the mess around me and being aware that the main landfill is officially full, although a new ‘cell’ has/is being opened, it is small and will soon be full too. I am particularly frustrated by the knowledge that if proper composting and recycling systems were in place and properly run, we would hardly need any landfill at all.
Having said that, I’ve learnt to look past the mess, as I spend a lot of time in rural areas and townships.
Did you know that, according to Census 2022, only 39.8% of households within RNM receive weekly refuse collection? This means that over 60% of families permanently live the way our coastal residents have for one month. They eventually dump their rubbish on the main road in hopes it will eventually be collected, burn it, bury it, chuck it into the river or just learn to live with it. Some with private vehicles use the recycling depot, and some drop off their black bags in suburban areas (where they know they will be collected).
I would hope that going forward, residents and ratepayers, political representatives and municipal officials will interrogate ways to implement truly efficient waste management systems across RNM, rather than just fighting to ‘return to normal’.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
