Complaints by local residents about the ANC controlled Tshwane Council’s poor service delivery continue to pour in, with many residents saying that Council workers are seemingly ‘dragging their feet’ so that they can collect more money for overtime or ‘support’ their pals who the Council has given tenders to, for work outsourced by the Council.
This follows ongoing complaints regarding the same streetlights not working, water leaks, etc, despite being repaired a few days before. Another ongoing complaint is rubbish being dumped all over Laudium and after Council contractors clear the rubbish, within a day or two the same areas are again filled with rubbish. Residents claim that the Council remains re-active, instead of looking for pro-active solutions, such as fencing off the areas, calling on the Metro Police to be more vigilant in enforcing by-laws and even providing dumpster containers at the various spots, so that residents could throw their extra rubbish in there. Calls have also been made for the opening of a fully- fledged landfill site nearby so that rubbish could be dumped there, as the nearby Valhalla site has been closed for some time now.
One of the ongoing complaints, is the illegal dumping spot, at the corner of 19th Avenue and the old Military Road, without a lasting solution for many years. Each time the area is cleaned, within a day or two dumping starts there again. Abdul Kader Abed of 19th Avenue, Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, “This illegal dumping has been going on in this area for many years and yet nothing has been done by the Council or even our Ward Councillor to address it, with a permanent solution. The corner of 19th Ave and Military Road has been used by careless residents as a dumping ground for years and it’s a real problem for residents living in the area. There are a lot of homeless people and vagrants in the area who also contribute to the mess, but residents themselves also throw their rubbish here, making the situation even worse. For elderly people like me, this is especially bad, because it’s not a healthy environment at all. The smell coming from the piles of garbage is unbearable and affects my health every day. We have complained so many times to the Council and the Councillor, but it feels like our complaints are being ignored. This is a main road; it’s not as if Cllr Patel or the Council staff don’t see it when passing by. Yet nothing has been done to solve this problem of dumping, once and for all. The corner continues to be filled with trash and even dead animals and it’s becoming more and more dangerous and unhygienic, as the place is infested with rats and verman. The Council needs to take this seriously and act before it gets worse. We pay our Rates & Taxes, yet the services we receive in return are far below what we deserve. The lack of action on this illegal dumping corner is a clear example of poor service delivery. It’s frustrating to see that while residents are trying to live responsibly, the Council fails to manage even basic sanitation in our community. The area should be clean, safe and accessible to everyone, but instead, it has become a source of health hazards and frustration. As residents we deserve to live in a clean and safe environment. This isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s about public health, dignity, and respect for the community. As residents of 19th Avenue, we have had enough and we demand that Cllr Patel and the Council take responsibility and restore our streets to a condition where our children and us can live without fear of filth, disease and bad odors.”
Anwar Hussain, also of 19th Avenue, told the Laudium Sun, “There are a lot of people dumping their rubbish at this corner and this has been going on for a long time now. Not long back, this place used to be clean and even pleasant for the community, but with all the illegal dumping over the past few years, it has become a disgusting and unhealthy area, with rats and other insects breeding there. Every day, more trash is dumped here, and it seems like no one takes responsibility. The Council has not taken any real initiative to find a long-lasting solution for this area to remain clean and tidy. They can provide these large containers or even fence off the area. They should also provide a dumping site nearby, so that people wanting to dump rubbish and even building rubble can do so there. The smell coming from the piles of garbage is unbearable. It seems that food outlets are also dumping their rubbish here. Walking past this site is almost impossible without feeling the stench and seeing the terrible mess.”
19th Avenue resident, Suraya Ayob, told the Laudium Sun, “It’s frustrating to see that while residents want to live in a clean and safe community in their own areas, they have no qualms about dumping their rubbish in our area. The Council should take immediate action to remove the accumulated waste and put measures in place to prevent further illegal dumping. Residents deserve to live in a neighborhood that is safe, clean and well-maintained. We can no longer accept this filthy situation in our area.”