Illegal dumping, along with the theft of drain covers, aggravated flooding in Bonteheuwel during recent heavy rains, says ward councillor Angus McKenzie.
He has urged residents to dispose of their waste responsibly.
Dumping remains a problem despite municipal staff doing weekly clean-ups in Bramble Way, Kersboom Street and other hot spots, he says.
Residents paid drug addicts to dispose of their rubbish in other roads, ignoring the health risks that created, and they seemed to think that others would simply clean up after them, and that attitude needed to change, he said.
“People need to stop turning a blind eye to dumping. Those who pay drug addicts to dump must be held equally accountable as those who dump. There has been a call to bring back skips to the area, but when they were there, residents wanted them gone because they were an eyesore for the area. People didn’t use them for their intended purpose but rather dumped next to them. The area gets cleaned today and tomorrow they dump again. It’s as if cleaning it is an invitation to dump again,” he said.
Community of Bonteheuwel Association chairman Abie Clayton blamed both dumping by residents and a lack of municipal cleaning for the flooding. Residents who didn’t take out their bins on garbage-collection days paid drug addicts to dump the rubbish.
“They even dump in front of the New Apostolic Church. They have no respect for their church never mind their neighbours whose homes they dump in front of. This is what adds to our roads being flooded and drains blocked.
“In some areas of Bonteheuwel, there are no City workers cleaning the roads so when it rains, all the dirt goes into the drains. People just don’t care about their community. The thing is you see the person dumping but when you speak to them they are rude and aggressive so you rather don’t.”
People dumped around skips and not in them if they were unable to heave the rubbish up and over the side of them, he said.
Mayoral committee member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien said rain entering the sewers through open drains, illegal stormwater discharge into sewers and pipe blockages from illegal dumping all contributed to sewage overflows and flooding.
“This is because waste that gets into the system, via flushing or pouring down drains and sinks, already reduces the capacity of the sewer pipes to convey wastewater and damages infrastructure like pump stations, resulting in overflows and flooding.”
