Foul smell, flies, rats, heaps of waste on the side of the road and open spaces. This is a common sight in most parts of Mogale City due to illegal dumping – an act which most illegal dumpers justify as job creation.
Illegal dumping remains one of the major challenges currently faced by the municipality as companies, industries and residents deliberately dump waste into the environment and undesignated areas. Although it appears to be a minor deed, dumping illegally has adverse consequences for the environment, the municipality and our rate payers. Mogale City spends millions of rands annually to clean up dirty spaces with money that could have been used to render other critical services for its communities.
In addition to this wastage of funds, discarding waste in any form illegally adversely affects the environment by polluting the land, air, surface, as well as ground water sources which in turn makes Mogale City and its people contributors towards climate change. Mounting waste is also an eyesore to current and potential investors that want to operate their businesses in safe and clean environments as desired by their staff and customers. This ultimately means that dumping deters the economic growth of our beautiful city.
This growing scourge and its dire shortcomings prompted Mogale City’s Environmental Management to partner with Sasol, Rand Water, Amatshe Mine and West End Clay Brick & Roofing to clean up and clear out identified dumping hotspots across the city. Although all identified illegal dumping sites require intervention, our personnel have identified the newly developed access road to Westhaven Cemetery along Chamdor Road as one such hotspot that required urgent intervention.
In this, we wish to assure affected residents and businesses that the municipality is working alongside partners to clean up this stretch of road for the safety of both humans and the environment.
We further encourage residents, businesses and industries to make use of designated areas such as landfill sites to dispose waste to keep the city and its environment clean. With your efforts and involvement, we can win the fight against illegal dumping.