Durban - The eThekwini Municipality has dumped private contractors collecting waste in uMlazi. An inter-governmental delegation led by Premier Sihle Zikalala met residents to inform them that the city would go back to providing the service, following a resolution taken at a council meeting earlier in the week.
A report tabled at the meeting highlighted the continuous disruption of the waste management collection in the township since 2017.
The disruptions, according to the report tabled at the council, posed a health hazard as waste often went uncollected for weeks.
Residents have had to bear with rubbish piling up on their doorsteps as contractors and subcontractors fought over payment.
Raymond Rampersad, head of Durban Solid Waste, apologised to the community. He admitted that using contractors had not worked out as planned.
“From now on the city will restore the services and bring much-needed change to residents.
“Although it was short notice, I would like to assure residents that as from tomorrow (Monday) the city will take full responsibility of waste collection in the township and no waste will be left lying on the streets.”
Rampersad said in the interim the city would utilise its internal resources until it gets additional equipment.
With uMlazi being one of the biggest townships in the country with over a million residents, Rampersad said the addition of more than 200 people and 14 refuse trucks was required for the city to provide the service.
He said the city would double shifts for the next three months until the additional equipment was available.
“We are currently busy with an assessment which will give us clear statistics of all required resources.”
Rampersad said the city was aware of the intimidation threats that municipal workers might face while operating in the township.
He said law enforcement would be on standby to ensure workers were protected.
“The decision was taken in good spirit with contractors and this is not the end of them.
“We have signed other contracts with some of them. We still use contractors in townships like Lamontville, Chesterville and Cato Crest. We also plan to use contractors in the informal settlements because the streets are narrow and our trucks struggle to drive through.”
Rampersad said the end of contractors in uMlazi also afforded the municipality an opportunity to absorb some Expanded Public Works Programme workers who have been on contract since 2014.
He said the recruitment process would be open to everyone, but preference would be given to people from uMlazi.
“We understand that there are people who have been working for the unit, they have experience and expertise which puts them in a better position. We will also consider people who worked with private contractors but we want to ensure that the people of uMlazi benefit,” he added.