Durban - Refuse collection services have been brought to a halt in almost all areas of the eThekwini Municipality as a result of protest action by Durban Solid Waste (DSW) workers.
Head of DSW Raymond Rampersad said his unit had received a string of complaints from community members as the streets were not being swept and refuse was not being collected.
He said about 80% of the city had been affected by the go-slow. Workers have been on the go-slow since Monday, protesting against a council resolution that ordered departments to cut their overtime budget by 50%.
The council policy requires all units to cut the overtime budget and use the savings made to fill vacancies.
Before the resolution, DSW had an overtime budget of R110 million, which has now been slashed to R55m.
“I believe about 80 areas in the city are affected. These include Berea, Reservoir Hills, Glenwood, the Upper Highway and many others,” he said.
Other areas affected include Phoenix, Westville and uMhlanga according to councillors, ratepayers organisations and community groups.
Rampersad said that yesterday some staff members did not work.
“They went to the city hall for a meeting even though they were not invited,” he said.
DSW trucks were seen parked near the Durban City Hall where the unions were said to be meeting with Philani Mavundla, the deputy mayor.
Mavundla, who spearheaded the cutting of overtime, was expected to report back to the unions yesterday on the way forward. If the workers were happy with the response, they might resume their duties today.
IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said DSW was not the only department affected by the decision: “They are not the only ones affected by this decision, does this mean the electricity department, water, security should also strike?”
Patrick Pillay of the Democratic Liberal Congress, which is based in Phoenix, said: “People were not aware of the strike and they took out their rubbish unknowingly and now that rubbish is littered all over.”
Asad Gaffar of the Westville Ratepayers’ Association said residents were complaining.
“Refuse is piling up in the streets. There are monkeys in this area and they are tearing up the bags and you can imagine what the situation is.
“The city needs a way forward, if there are legitimate overtime claims – it should pay those but if that is not the case, it needs to punish the employees, we cannot have the city being held to ransom,” he said.
The decision of the council to cut overtime received some support from residents who said they had long suspected that the system was being abused.
One resident said: “I live in Escombe and our rubbish collection day is Wednesday. For months we used to see a DSW truck arrive in our area on a Saturday and sometimes a Sunday. There were up to six guys on the truck, including the driver.
“I did ask them on a few occasions what they were doing in our area, only to be told they were collecting rubbish. This was obviously a scam to get overtime – there was no rubbish to be collected.
“I did report this to the ombudsman, together with the registration number of the truck. Just wondering how much more of this goes on unreported,” he said.