eThekwini Municipality moves to tackle refuse collection challenges
Recurring delays in refuse collection across several suburbs are due to repetitive truck failures and breakdowns.
RESIDENTS in the south of Durban continue to raise concerns about refuse collection and other municipal services, prompting Ward 64 councillor Norman Gilbert to visit the Collingwood depot to engage with municipal officials and gain a better understanding of the challenges affecting waste collection.
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Gilbert said the meeting provided valuable insight into the challenges faced by eThekwini Municipality.
“The visit to the Durban South Central West Management Depot was more of a relationship-building exercise. We just wanted to meet with the manager to understand her challenges, which are pretty much the same as those faced by all municipal departments. They are understaffed and under-resourced,” said Gilbert.
He added that recurring delays in refuse collection across several suburbs are due to repetitive truck failures and breakdowns.
According to Norman these challenges delay the pick-up, and there is a challenge around overtime and related issues.
“The exciting thing that did come out of the meeting was that they are busy putting together a second shift that will start at 14:00 and run through until, I think, 22:00. Those shifts are primarily going to focus on hotspot areas where the areas are repetitively dirtied, or where there are events and functions. For example, the Yellowwood Park Civic Hall would form part of that,” he said.
Gilbert said the team will come at around 14:00 on a Saturday afternoon or a Sunday afternoon to clean up the area.
He added that the depot manager had also indicated that the department would benefit from the addition of new vehicles to the city’s fleet.
He expressed hope that the planned changes would improve service delivery and help address long-standing waste collection concerns in the south of Durban.
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