Johannesburg - A shortage of diesel in the City of Ekurhuleni has left residents with no refuse removal for several weeks.
Residents of some of the smaller towns were informed on March 14 there was no diesel for the collection of trash, which has resulted in piles of rotting refuse in the suburbs and town centres.
An irate resident, William Douglas, on Friday took bags of rubbish and dumped half of them outside the mayor’s office and the other half at the Ekurhuleni Metro Centre in Germiston.
Douglas says refuse has not been removed for weeks in Benoni and Brakpan.
“The question that has to be asked is why they ran out of diesel?
“Is it lack of budget planning, lack of delivery, theft of, and thus lack of, funds for diesel or plain incompetence?” he asked.
“Last week, the excuse in Brakpan was that the one truck was broken and they could only pick up the refuse at the weekend with the help of Benoni trucks. The opposition parties are not very helpful, except for informing their constituents that there is no diesel. They do not ask for the reasons for these shortages. Ratepayers currently pay R160 a month for a service that is not delivered,” he said.
Douglas said staff at the mayor’s office were very friendly when he dumped the bags and sympathised with him.
The City of Ekurhuleni admitted to The Star it has “experienced challenges” with the delivery of diesel to its depots.
“This was as a result of one of the four suppliers being unable to deliver fuel, despite the account being up to date. The contract is coming to an end in June and our finance department has secured approval to allow the other three fuel suppliers to assist with deliveries so that depots do not run out of diesel,” said city spokesperson Themba Hadebe.
The city, he said, has advertised for new suppliers and the process of appointing new contractors for the next financial year was under way. The suppliers will be appointed before the end of the current financial year.
“In the meantime, the Waste Management Department has put together a plan to address refuse collection backlogs. On a daily basis, the department submits reports to the city manager indicating progress with eliminating backlogs. The city apologises to residents and businesses for the inconvenience caused,” Hadebe said.
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