Residents living in the Durban suburbs of Glenwood, Umbilo and Bulwer have had to contend with piles of trash lining the streets because Durban Solid Waste staff have allegedly not collected refuse for the past four weeks.
Ward councillor Sakhile Mngadi said he was informed that there had been truck breakdowns, however, this was not true.
"I’ve inspected the depot myself and trucks are parked there. The issue seems to be that there are no truck drivers.
“This is because when the City decided to do away with overtime pay the drivers this unit was using were all in acting positions and were actually general workers who would then, on top of their salary, receive 'acting grant pay', which falls in line as an item as overtime pay.
“This means it was also stopped and the workers have stopped driving trucks," he said via feedback to ward constituents.
Mngadi claimed that staff are demanding that the overtime pay be reinstated.
"The City has said they will employ them permanently but there are now fights over who gets employed because they are calling the process unfair. This is why there are still no trucks on the road and a huge backlog.“
On a drive through the area this week piles of trash lined streets and routes frequented by runners and walkers from the community.
Mngadi said he has written to eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda asking him to intervene.
"I’ve been inundated with messages about the state of the ward, especially in the Umbilo area given the collapse of services from DSW and the lack of refuse removal for the past four weeks in some parts.
“A week ago the excuse given was that only some trucks are working in the area. The others were in the depot being serviced. This is not sitting well with me or any of my colleagues in the other affected wards," he said.
He has also written to DSW management demanding answers.
Last month, the City confirmed that DSW’s service had resumed following a go-slow by workers who were unhappy that overtime was cut.
The eThekwini Municipality did not respond to questions sent via email, asking for clarity on whether an agreement between the City and DSW had been reached.
The City also did not respond to whether issues around overtime had been resolved, despite issuing a statement on August 4, that refuse collection and street sweeping services that were affected by the recent go-slow had resumed.
The only response IOL got from the City was: "Thank you for bringing the matter to our attention. We are busy clearing the backlog in the area and will be finished by the end of the weekend."
IOL