Residents of Gwayi Street in Crossroads are appealing to the City of Cape Town to make a plan to remove the rubbish that is illegally dumped in front of their houses.
They said it has been nearly a month since the rubbish was last collected.
“We are in trouble with rubbish here. People from the community are dumping their wheelie bins here. Since one of the cleaners, who was collecting rubbish in Lower Crossroads was gunned down at Phase 2 C on Tuesday 25 April, the rubbish has never been collected,” said a resident Nolusapho Kom.
She added that people from the nearby streets dumped the rubbish in the pond, just across their street.
Kom stressed that they were aware of the shooting incident, making it difficult for the City to be reluctant to execute its duty in the area.
However, she said their lives were in danger because of the unbearable stench that emanated from the rubbish.
“It’s not easy for the City’s vehicles to come into our areas because they are robbed in the daytime. Maybe the City can organise the police or law enforcement officers to escort the City’s rubbish truck just to remove it. We don’t know what to do and the rubbish is piling up every day,” said Kom.
Ward 36 councillor Nceba Ntsheza said he was aware of the problem. He said the problem was not only in his ward but also in the neighbouring wards. “It is bad. The worst part is the City trucks come once a week or do not come at all. It has been almost four weeks since the rubbish was not collected and is a problem,” said Ntshweza.
However, he stressed that he will engage with the City officials to try to find ways for the rubbish to be removed.