The Masihlule Recycling Project, currently based at the municipal dump site, has strongly denied rumours it is planning to pull out of the partnership due to safety concerns.
The Masihlule Recycling Project, currently based at the municipal dump site, has strongly denied rumours it is planning to pull out of the partnership due to safety concerns.
In an interview with Grocott's Mail on Thursday 22 May project leader Simphiwe Mngcongo emphasised that the project is there to stay, despite being under pressure from vandalism.
The project, which was launched to assist Makana Municipality's waste control at the venue, started operating from the municipal dump site in 2008.
The group of 10 under the leadership of Mngcongo operate completely from the dump site.
Speaking at his office on Thursday 23 May Mngcongo said refuse from all parts of the city is dumped at the municipal tip.
This makes it an ideal place for a project of this nature to operate from.
The project focuses mostly on recycling plastic, cardboard and paper.
They use the dump site mostly for collection purposes, since the machinery used to convert the plastic that they recycle to wood was moved to Port Alfred.
The project came under pressure when incidents of vandalism started increasing.
Mngcongo said the project is still functioning, despite the break-ins which constantly hamper their progress.
"The project is progressing, but it has its ups and downs. The main problem is vandalism and theft," he said.
He said they do not know of anyone who has been arrested since they started reporting the cases to the police.
According to Mngcongo, thieves steal electrical cables and other materials they can sell for money.
"We are without electricity at the moment because they stole electrical cables," he said.
According to Mngcongo, the thieves dug a hole in the brick wall to gain entry into the office, before making off with the material.
Mngcongo told Grocott's Mail that the people who break into their offices are the same people who live at the dump site.
"We know it's them. Some even tell us who did it, but they don't want to take it further than that," he said.
Reporting these incidents to the police does little to deter the criminals, according to Mngcongo.
"We have reported cases to the police and we have reported the incidents to the municipal people we work with as well," he said.
The vandalism poses a real threat to the business's existence.
It has already had to move plastic-processing machinery to Port Alfred due to the high levels of crime in the area.
Incidents of crime at the site are not only limited to those experienced by employees of the recycling project.
Local school employee, Sonwabo Zabo, who had gone to dump the school's rubbish at the site with a co-worker, was attacked by the people who live at the tip a few months ago.
Zabo says the men who were at the site when they were busy off-loading the material the weapon-wielding men grabbed the material right out of their hands.
"They came at us carrying hammers and other weapons.
"Before we could even finish what we were doing they threatened to hit us and ran away with the old geyser," he said.
Even municipal workers who were at the tip at the time couldn't do anything to stop the aggressive bunch, Zabo said.
Zabo says they called the police while they were still there but they never showed up. They did not open a criminal case.
Responding to questions about the incidents, police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender said there was an incident reported to the police last week, and before February.
Govender denied that several cases were reported, adding that the police had acted and opened dockets.
"Investigations are still under way," she said.
Mngcongo emphasised that the project was not going anywhere despite the frequent incidents of vandalism.
"We have no intention of leaving. We are going to continue with recycling," he said.
Municipal spokesperson Yoliswa Ramokolo had promised to respond to emailed questions, but had not done so by late on Thursday 23 May.
