For the past three years, the Moloi family has had to live with the stink of an illegal dumping site few metres from their house.
“I am tired of complaining to the municipality to remove the rubbish near my house. My complaints are falling on deaf ears. I don’t have the energy to be going up and down for the municipality to clear the rubbish, but my street is a dump site now,” said the elderly Mrs M Moloi of Petsana township in Reitz in the Free State.
The dumping site, which the community say has has been in existence for the past three years, is now more than two meters high.
“Actually this is disgusting. It’s an insult to the community. This is not only the dumping site in the township. There are lots of them and if the authorities do not take away rubbish, then who will?” questioned Vusi Mthimukhulu of the Unite Residents Front (URF), a local group of community activists.
“We are told the truck for removing rubbish has broken down, but when it is available it does not take away the rubbish piled up here,” said Gladys Mokoena of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).
Health-e asked a man dumping litter, who did not want to be identified, why he chose to do so, as the site is a health risk. He responded: “We are not provided with rubbish bins so creating dumping sites is only the solution. Where else can we throw rubbish?”
The spokesperson for the Nketoana Municipality did not respond to requests for comment.
