Despite many efforts to clean up dump sites, illegal dumping continues to be a serious problem affecting all wards in Phoenix.
In an effort to address the issue, Ward 51 Councillor Maggie Johnson, joined by Siyanda Malinga and Sboniso Goniwe from Area Based Management (ABM), embarked on an awareness drive to encourage local tuckshop owners to register for the green bin service. ABM is a unit within the eThekwini Municipality whose function is to facilitate, coordinate and integrate service delivery to communities. Cllr Johnson said, “Service delivery in the eThekwini Municipality is no doubt in a downward trajectory with many departments facing insurmountable challenges, due to human and material shortages resulting in inordinate delays. Communities are also being plagued with increasing crime and grime. It is becoming more and more difficult to maintain some areas as the same places are dumped on again and again after being cleaned up.
“We went to a number of tuckshops in the area to encourage owners to register for the green bin service. This is one of the services DSW promotes for businesses to dispose of waste. Over the past decade, many residential properties have turned their garages into tuckshops and a vast number have been leased to third parties. Without a proper waste management in place, we have no idea where the excess packaging is being disposed of,” said Cllr Johnson. “The frontage of most of the tuckshops were found to be in an untidy state with cigarette packets and butts, sweet wrappings and chips packets strewn around. This is just one of the initiatives. We are also looking to working with schools and religious organisations to mitigate this scourge. The community is also encouraged to become more civic-minded, take pride in the environment and get more involved to win this war on illegal dumping,” added Councillor Johnson.
