Things are back to normal in Gugulethu, Lower Crossroads and Nyanga communities after the City of Cape Town’s Urban Waste Management (UWM) Department decided to lift its ban on waste collection in the areas.
On Monday 9 October, waste removal started in the area after nearly three weeks of inactivity which led to a surge in dump sites in and around the area.
Following an attack on two private security guards who were protecting waste management staff on Thursday 14 September, the City decided to pull the plug on municipal services in the area (“City withdraws after staff attack”, City Vision, Thursday 21 September).
In a separate incident at KTC on Thursday 28 September, UWM employees were robbed of their belongings at Fenqe Street.
Earlier this year, the City was forced to cancel its services in Lower Crossroads after one of its employees was gunned down(“Crime in Lower Crossroads a concern”, City Vision, 4 May).
In a media statement over the weekend, the City said the employees would be protected by the security guards.
Nyanga CPF secretary Dumisani Qwebe welcomed the reinstatement of the services in the area. He appealed to the community to protect the workers and other government facilities. He said they are relieved that the rubbish will be collected. “The worst part is us who are suffering on the ground. Our areas are dirty to the extent that there are flies and stink everywhere. Our children are playing in the dirt and are going to be affected by the whole mess,” said Qwebe.
He said they will organise a special meeting with all the community stakeholders to outline plans to curb crime in the area.
Gugulethu CPF coordinator Masoka Ntshauzana urged the community to refrain crime. He said crime has a negative impact on the development of the area.
He reiterated Qwebe’s sentiment that soon they will have a meeting with all community stakeholders to strategically plan on how to deal with crime.
“We want all the community stakeholders to be united in order to fight crime. We want the officers to come on board because we want police visibility in our area,” said Ntshauzana.
The City’s Mayco member for urban waste management Grant Twigg said services in these areas were temporarily disrupted because refuse collection staff received threats of attack unless the City paid protection fees.
“The waste collection services in affected areas have been reinstated under security protection. Residents are asked to please be patient as we deal with the backlog.We appreciate residents’ cooperation during this time. On Monday regularly scheduled services will commence if all goes as planned,” said Twigg.
He said it remains the City’s priority to ensure services continue even during such challenging times as much as possible.
“We are committed to providing waste collection services while ensuring the safety of our staff on the ground delivering these very services to communities. We will work closely with safety and security teams to ensure our services can continue,” Twigg.
