Rubbish wars in the suburbs

A BROODING battle between the owners of a Thai spa in Arboretum and a local garden service company, led to the dumping of a massive mountain of garden garbage in the driveway of the spa on Friday.

Surprised neighbours noticed the appearance of the manmade alp and speculations about the cause of the hostile act flew around on Friday.

The owner of the spa, who also owns a branch in Johannesburg, agreed to comment on condition that his name is withheld.

He says he intends to press charges for illegal dumping and defamation of character against the owner of the garden services, because he was accused of running an escort agency and was the victim of telephonic racial abuse.

He however admitted that the root of the problem was a dispute over the garden service account, which he says, was exorbitant and not the deal they initially shook hands on.

He in turn also washed some dirty laundry in public, hurling accusations of his own.

‘He accused me of running a brothel. He does not know what a Thai spa is. He wants more money than we agreed upon. I asked for his banking details and he did not give it to me. I will pay him what we agreed upon and that is all.

‘The municipality must clean it up. I can give them pictures of the illegal dumping and I have it on camera. It is not part of my property – it is the state’s driveway.’

Meanwhile, the municipality did send out the refuse workers to inspect the site, following queries by other interested parties to get the mess cleaned up and nip the problem in the bud.

The mountain was only a molehill on Monday, but the owner of the garden services is adamant that his account is outstanding and unpaid and that he wants the balance of his payment.

When the Eyethu Bay Watch asked him for comment, he said his team worked four hours flat and collected a massive amount of eco rubble.

‘He owes me the money, but since he did not pay, I returned half of what I removed. I still owe him the other half.’