Durban - Rubbish continues to pile up outside uMlazi homes, as domestic refuse goes uncollected, despite assurances from the municipality.
In a statement released last week, the eThekwini Municipality said waste collection had resumed in parts of uMlazi.
However, residents of the township’s AA Section on Monday said rubbish remained uncollected.
Other sections in uMlazi that have been affected by the refuse problem include H, M and K sections, among others.
Refuse collectors were threatened at gunpoint and told not to collect domestic refuse by men claiming to be uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) veterans.
The veterans and a group calling itself the Umlazi Business Forum have been demanding they be included in the allocation of tenders.
They claimed they had been promised work last year but nothing had materialised.
In a statement on Friday, Durban mayor James Nxumalo said: “We assure all residents that this situation is receiving attention and thank the involved parties for their co-operation.
“Refuse collection has resumed in uMlazi and we are confident that by next week the operations will be back to normal,” Nxumalo said.
A frustrated AA Section resident on Monday said the situation made her angry.
“It is not nice that you leave your home and there is garbage outside. If it was a suburban area this would not be happening. It could also cause health problems especially when you have kids running around,” said the woman, who asked not to be named.
uMlazi AA Section ward councillor, Ntwenhle Dlamini, on Monday said residents were deeply unhappy.
Dlamini said he hoped by next week things would be back to normal, but said he could not comment further as he was waiting for details from the municipality on developments.
Zamindlela “Zam Zam” Mbhele, chairman of the veterans’ association in the eThekwini region, said although MK and the business forum had disputed the awarding of the tenders, they had now told MK members to distance themselves from the matter and that issues should be discussed through the organisation’s regional executive council.
“There are more members of the business forum than there are soldiers,” Mbhele said, which meant that the forum should take the lead in negotiations and the MK did not have any powers to tell the business forum what to do.
Mbhele said MK was already negotiating with the municipality.
Daily News