Pretoria - Residents in Tshwane have been urged to desist from illegally dumping waste out of frustration emanating from uncollected rubbish piling up in townships and suburbs due to the strike by workers affiliated to the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu).
Workers downed tools two weeks ago, demanding that the municipality honour the collective bargaining agreement with the unions to increase salaries by 3.5% this financial year.
Since the protest started there have been reports of services being disrupted across the city, including backlogs of power outages and services at municipal clinics being affected.
Rubbish collection has also been hit, with residents in many parts of the city dumping waste at illegal sites.
MMC for environment and agriculture management Ziyanda Zwane has urged residents to refrain from illegally dumping waste during this period.
“This is detrimental to the environment and well-being of communities. While it is difficult to confirm when normal services will be restored at this stage, the City commits to providing regular updates on developments regarding the full restoration of services. The City of Tshwane understands that this is a frustrating period for residents. We thank you for your patience while we find a solution to this impasse,” Zwane said.
He said the city regretted the ongoing disruption of the refuse collection schedule, adding that refuse removal had been severely affected by the ongoing strike since July 27.
“The City would like to assure residents that we are working around the clock to implement a catch-up plan to minimise the impact of the ongoing illegal strike on refuse removal services. In the interim, refuse collection will be conducted as per the waste collection schedule from August 7,” he said.
Zwane said that if residents’ waste was not collected in the morning, they must keep it outside as the catch-up plan was extended into the evening.
“We are doing our best to ensure that waste is collected and properly disposed of to avoid illegal dumping occurring within our communities,” he said.
Pretoria News