Samora Machel residents are worried about the escalating illegal dumping, with almost every street covered in litter.
According to some concerned residents, things got worse over the festive season as dumping sites mushroomed in every street. Residents are now urging the City of Cape Town to impose steep penalties against the perpetrators.
Anelisa Nyabeni, resident at Lillian Ngoyi Street, described the illegal dumping as a new norm in the area.
“At Lillian Ngoyi alone there are about three illegal dumping sites. In all the dumping sites there is rubble, bags of rubbish and sometimes tree branches,” said Nyabeni.
She called on residents to take responsibility for their community and keep the area clean. She said most of the rubbish was dumped during the night, labelling Samora as a “mess”.
“When people are renovating or building their houses they take the rubble and dump it anywhere. Others dump the branches after they cut their hedges. Yes, in some areas there are bottles of alcohol which shows people were drinking,” said Nyabeni.
When City Vision visited the area on Saturday 8 January to witness what the community complained about; some streets including Oliver Tambo Road, corner of Oliver Tambo and Chris Hani Crescent, Lillian Ngoyi Street, Coline Williams Street and Michael Mapongwana Street were all covered in litter.
Ward 33 councillor Lungisa Somdaka described illegal dumping as one of the challenges faced by the area. He stated that the problem increased during the festive season and promised to report the matter to the City. “This is an issue I need to address with the residents during our community meetings. Recently I called the City’s Department of Solid Waste to clean Coline Williams Street before we closed for December holidays but the street is full of rubble again,” said Somdaka. (“Simandundu isimo sabahlali”, City Vision 9 December). He reiterated Nyabeni’s sentiments that people dump the rubble at night.