Illegal dumping by businesses is on the rise and has impacted on the overall cleanliness of the CBD.
Discussions at the recent Social Services, Community Empowerment and Protection Services (SCEP) Portfolio Committee meeting singled out illegal dumping as the cause of the unclean streets in the town centre.
Illegal dumping by businesses is on the rise and has impacted on the overall cleanliness of the CBD.
Discussions at the recent Social Services, Community Empowerment and Protection Services (SCEP) Portfolio Committee meeting singled out illegal dumping as the cause of the unclean streets in the town centre.
Councillors spoke of an increase of hawkers operating along High Street, a lack of livestock control and street children as reasons for the poor condition of the streets.
Johan Esterhuizen of Makana Municipality’s Environment, Health and Cleansing Department said he has encountered problems with businesses and residents living in the CBD who put out their refuse on the wrong days.
He says that some businesses put out the refuse on Fridays so they don’t have to come to work early to put it out then.
He said they have fined some businesses between R300 and R350 as the municipality has had to remove refuse on the wrong days and at their expense.
Esterhuizen says that the street sweepers can’t keep up as they have to clean large areas and as they move on, people litter in those cleaned areas, leaving the streets constantly dirty.
“If people commit to bend down and pick up one piece of paper, the town would be cleaned. Perhaps we need to get this through to the community,” he said.
He added that the municipality recently advertised a tender for providing street litter bins which have a hole small enough to throw your litter away but allows no access for the public or animals to sift through the contents.
“[The tender] will make sure that the bins are manufactured from recycled materials, are fixed on the ground and are donkey proof,” Esterhuizen said.
Ward 7 councillor Nomhle Gaga proposed that the businesses which dump illegally should be blacklisted. She also said that donkeys and cows and beggars who pick through the contents of the bins contribute to the dirtiness of the wards.
“In our ward we have a poster which says, Please Keep Our City Clean,” Gaga said. She added that Grahamstown could employ
more people to clean the streets, but it won’t change much if individuals do not step in and assist. SCEP Director, Mandisi Planga agreed that nothing will change until the individual’s mindset changes.
“We were promised by the Department of Transport for five rangers for people to assist in controlling the movements of animals in town.”
Planga added that a shift work system will be employed this month, focused on the CBD area to control its cleanliness.
“When people knock off there will be people around to make sure there are no black bags and no full bins,” Esterhuizen added.
The committee’s chairperson, Julia Wells resolved that people who dump illegally will be exposed in the media in addition to the fines that they have to pay.
