Extraordinary garbage removal plans infuriates some

VEREENIGING. – They say extraordinary times calls for extraordinary measures, but special measures put in place to meet the struggling Emfuleni Local Municipality halfway in their obligation to remove refuse from the suburb of Three Rivers nearly backfired on Monday morning when it infuriated some residents, leading to accusations of “illegal dumping”.

On Sunday night some residents were notified via a WhatsApp message that refuse would not be collected at certain streets north of General Hertzog Road. Residents were subsequently asked to take their refuse to one of three points that had been arranged with the refuse collectors from Emfuleni Local Municipality. These points were at the field at Dick Fourie Stadium, the open field next to Progress Bakery and the other one at Riverside Primary School.

Things did not go according to plan, however, when residents living in close vicinity to these sites mistook the mass dumping of refuse bags near their doorstep as “illegal dumping”. It also seems that not all residents received the request via WhatsApp.

At the site by Dick Fourie a man was seen hassling residents adhering to the request to leave their refuse at Dick Fourie. Holding a piece of paper and a pen and seemingly writing down number plates the man threatened to report residents adhering to the special request to the police for “illegal dumping”.

Guards from Dick Fourie also met residents trying to leave their bags outside the stadium with some hostility. Eventually local councillor Dalene Venter intervened and talked to the guards.

At 09:00 workers from the Emfuleni Local Municipality brought a skip for all the refuse bags, which had been accumulating since earlier in the morning, effectively putting an end to fears of illegal dumping.