INLSA

A resident shows the medical waste dumped in Clermont, Durban, as a new sign warns potential polluters not to break the law. Picture: Doctor Ngcobo

Lungelo Mkamba

A PINETOWN funeral parlour has been fined by the eThekwini municipality after it was caught illegally dumping its medical supplies in a Clermont neighbourhood.

Mazwi Khumalo, the owner of Kwagugulethu Funeral Services, in Pinetown, said yesterday that he had been fined R300 for dumping waste in Albert Madikizela Street, in the Shayamoya area in Clermont.

Khumalo said that he had paid the fine yesterday.

A week ago, the Shayamoya community was up in arms when they dis- covered that the funeral parlour had dumped “bloody” medical waste in their area.

Siyabonga Mpantsha, a Shayamoya resident, told The Mercury yesterday that a funeral parlour car had arrived a week ago and dumped “bloody” waste.

“We feared for the children’s safety because there was a lot of blood,” he said.

“They had dumped used gloves, dirty towels covered in blood and old shrouds.”

Mpantsha said that the community had been outraged because of the smell, and the children had been playing with the waste.

“They (children) blew up the gloves up as if they were balloons,” said Mpantsha.

He said that he welcomed new “no dumping” signs

, but that “the signs will not help because the cars are still coming to dump their waste in our neighbourhood and it will become a health hazard”.

Mpantsha said that a waste truck collected the neighbourhood’s waste every Sunday afternoon.

He said that a funeral home had in the past dumped medical waste in the near- by FNB Stadium sports ground where the youth played soccer.

“They might even dump bodies instead of their waste.”

Sibongiseni Mkhize, Ward 22 councillor, in Clermont, said that the community had been outraged at the in-cident, but Khumalo had apo-logised for dumping in the area.

“He (Khumalo) said he did not know because the area was previously a dump site and the signs had not been erected at the time,” he said. “He said that he was willing to do community service.”

Khumalo said that the whole incident had been a “mistake”, and that he had personally cleaned up the area.

He said he had been warned that if he dumped in the area again, he would be charged.

“This won’t happen again,” said Khumalo.

The questions sent to municipality spokesman Thabo Mofokeng had not been answered at the time of going to print.