A CO-ORDINATED clean-up took place at the Glanville Road Garden Refuse Site on February 19, uniting various city departments, law enforcement and local volunteers to combat the ongoing issue of illegal dumping.

Also read: Woodlands residents join forces with Community Police Forum to crush illegal dumping

This initiative was driven by Environmental Health, Safer Cities, Durban Solid Waste (DSW), DSW Transfer Stations, South Durban Basin Area Based Management, SAPS, the Parks Department and Ward 64 councillor Norman Gilbert.

Yolande Botha, senior Environmental Health Practitioner and one of the key organisers, said the operation came as a direct response to growing worries and complaints from people who lived nearby, who were concerned about the worsening state of the area surrounding the waste transfer station.

“The main goal was to tidy the area around the dump and tell people that dumping was not permitted. Illegal dumping usually happens after hours, when the garden site is closed. People, including those who do not even live in the area, take advantage of this situation, leaving waste outside the facility instead of throwing it away properly,” said Botha.

The clean-up involved removing waste from around the station and teaching the residents passing by about environmental and health issues.

Working in tandem

Botha said that while it remains the City‘s duty to ensure the municipality looks good and is clean, it should be done in collaboration with the community.

“People are always complaining about how dirty the community is, but no one is willing to take responsibility. eThekwini municipality is taking the responsibility to clean our own community’s dumping. It needs to be a partnership with eThekwini municipality stakeholders and the community to keep the area clean, clear, healthy, free of hazards, which will minimise the homeless coming into the community,” said Botha.

She encouraged people to report illegal dumping and to provide sworn statements if possible so that the police could take action against the offenders.

Councillor’s intervention

Ward 64 councillor Norman Gilbert said that the situation had gotten very bad, with some contractors and residents adding to the problem.

“An area of particular concern is the open space to the right of the dump, where unscrupulous contractors have been offloading building rubble instead of disposing of it lawfully. This deliberate misconduct is not only illegal but places an unfair burden on ratepayers who ultimately fund the clean-up operations. A comprehensive intervention plan is now being developed to curb this behaviour. Among the measures under consideration is the installation of surveillance cameras equipped with licence plate recognition technology to identify offenders and support successful prosecution,” said Gilbert.

He added that they removed hundreds of kilograms of waste. “As part of today’s intervention, the bush was cut back and cleared to improve visibility and reduce the likelihood of recurrence,” said Gilbert.

Gilbert and Botha extended their thanks to all the City’s departments that helped with the operation, as well as the young volunteers from Youth Mindset Empowerment, Shell for their sponsorship of refreshments, and Jabulisile Mtolo for her donation of fruits.

The clean-up initiative showcased the power of collaboration to bring about effective change.

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