Pretoria – The campaign launched last month by the City of Tshwane to clear more than 600 illegal dumping sites across the municipality is starting to see good results.
This was the sentiment of mayor Randall Williams, who told the Pretoria News that, although eradicating illegal dumping sites was a mammoth task, the City was making inroads.
He alluded to a long list of identified unlawful sites amounting to at least 600, saying it would take time to accomplish the task at hand.
Community safety and emergency services MMC Karen Meyer last month promised to crack down on illegal dumpers by deploying a team of metro police to hotspot areas.
The chief of police, the deputy chief of police responsible for specialised policing, and the Tshwane Metro Police Department’s by-law enforcement unit regarding enforcement of the City’s waste management by-laws were brought on board to assist in the campaign.
Meyer receives weekly statistics on the number of illegal dumping cases reported, the number of incidents they responded to, and the number of incidents proactively identified and addressed.
Williams said: "We are certainly winning the fight against illegal dumping. We have started a massive campaign to clear out these illegal dumps. It is a very long list that we are working through, but we are systematically working through it."
He expressed confidence in the Environmental and Agricultural Management MMC Dana Wannenberg, who was in charge of a campaign to get rid of the dumps.
However, Williams said he was aware of challenges posed by people with tendencies to dispose of rubbish in the non-designated spots.
"You can't just clean up the dumps and then you move on to the next illegal dump and then the one you have cleaned before becomes an illegal dumping site again," he said.
He pleaded with residents to assist the municipality by guarding against any illegal dumping practices in communities.
Some residents dumped household and garden waste on open fields, roadways and outside municipal facilities.
Williams said: "Once we have cleaned the area, help us to keep it clean."
The City, he said, regularly published updates on illegal dumping sites being cleared.
Pretoria News