M U N I C I PA L F E AT U R E
Tshwane’s R30 million
ILLEGAL DUMPING problem
The city of Tshwane has prioritised its resources to eradicate the increasing number of illegal dumping sites across various regions in the metro. This has seen over 2 300 illegal dumping sites cleared in as little as two months.
T
he occurrence of illegal dumping is an ongoing problem across all nine provinces of South Africa. Moreover, these dumping sites are now on the increase. In Tshwane, there are approximately 671 illegal dumping hot spots – and those are just the ones that have been identified. They are mostly sited in townships like Soshanguve, Atteridgeville and Mamelodi. The severity of the illegal dumping problem the City of Tshwane is battling can be seen as you drive through Atteridgeville, located to the west of Pretoria. One is immediately greeted by rows of trash as you enter the township. Ever y second corner is littered with waste, has been recently cleared, or has someone unloading their bin on to the massive heap already there. According to Dana Wannenburg, MMC: Environmental and Agricultural Management, the City of Tshwane spends over R30 million per year to clear and clean these illegal dumping sites; however, Wannenburg says it feels like fighting a losing battle. “Local municipalities do their best to inform and educate residents about the dangers of illegal dumping and the impor tance of using the available waste removal ser vices; however, it is so dishear tening to our officials who clean up an area, at great expense, and go back just two days later to find it filled with
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dumped refuse again,” says Wannenburg. “The cost involved in the cleaning of these illegal dumping sites is excessive and could honestly be better utilised in delivering other desperately needed ser vices.”
Campaign to clean the city The City of Tshwane launched a campaign in November 2020, which focused its resources on clearing more than 600 illegal dumping sites across the municipality. The campaign garnered good results, with Executive Mayor Randall Williams even sharing that, although eradicating these illegal dumping sites was a mammoth task, the City of Tshwane was making great progress. The campaign also included liaising with the Chief of Police, the Deputy Chief of Police responsible for Specialised Policing, and with the Tshwane Metro Police Depar tment (TMPD) By-law Enforcement Unit regarding enforcement of waste management by-laws. The following key actions have thus been instituted: 1. The Chief of Police issued a directive to instruct all uniformed TMPD officers in ever y region to proactively enforce the by-law and apprehend suspects when they see them. 2. The TMPD will provide weekly statistics on the number of illegal dumping cases repor ted, the number of incidents they
responded to, and the number of incidents proactively identified and addressed. 3. T he TMPD will also inform the Waste Management Division in the Depar tment of Environmental and Agricultural Management of repor ted illegal dumping incidents for these to be cleared. Any person found guilty of illegal dumping is now liable to a maximum period of imprisonment of three years or a R60 000 fine, or both, as determined by a cour t. The metro could fur ther recover remedial and administrative costs as applicable, as well as the costs of cleaning up the illegally disposed waste from the offender. “Transgressors know ver y well that what they are doing is illegal, but it just seems that they have no regard for the law. You can clearly see the sign that says no dumping, and yet they dump right under it,” says Wannenburg.
Educating the community Wannenburg adds that the City of Tshwane had also star ted with educational projects to help people understand the financial, health and environmental impacts of these sites. “A lot of the dumping is caused by backyard dwellers or households that have a lot of members living there, where one dustbin is not enough because it gets filled up quickly and they have to remove it from their yards,” he says.
