Michael Mapongwana Street residents, in Samora Machel, are living in fear with amaphara tormenting the community with litter.
The residents are accusing their neighbouring communities of hiring amaphara to dump rubbish in front of their houses.
A resident, who only identified himself as Zizi for fear of victimisation, said perpetrators empty wheelie bins outside their houses, creating a health hazard for property owners and a security risk for motorists. Zizi said the motorists no longer use the street. It has become narrow with rubbish piling up on either side of the road.
“It’s a pain that we have to endure on a daily basis. People are coming from other streets and offload their wheelie bins here. They used to do it at night, but now they are hiring amaphara to discard them (bins) during the day,” he said, adding that one of amaphara wanted to stab him while he was trying to confront him.
Zizi claimed amaphara established many illegal dumping sites around Samora and urged the City to take action against the perpetrators.
“Councillor is aware of our situation. It’s been more than two months since the rubbish was here. We really need help,” he appealed.
Ward 33 councillor Lungisa Somdaka said he is aware of the problem. He added that the entire neighbourhood is struggling with the same challenge.
“There are a lot of illegal dumping sites in Samora. I wrote an email to the City’s officials informing them about the conditions in Samora. The officials vowed to come and clean the area during the week,” he said.
Somdaka stated that he is going to address the issue of illegal dumping in his next community meeting.
