Nwabisa Msutwana-Stemela
4 January 2009
Littering and illegal dumping have become serious problems for the authorities in Cape Town.
The beaches are covered in litter every day during festive seasons and illegal dumping is rife in most of the city's townships all year round.
Claire McKinnon, manager of the City of Cape Town's solid waste department, said clean up campaigns were intensified during the festive season.
This holiday season the city employed more than 900 extra temporary workers and went into partnership with various companies who provide assistance in cleaning up.
According to McKinnon, the beaches are cleaned throughout the festive period, seven days a week, from early in the morning before visitors arrive until late at night.
She said the city provided more than sufficient litter bins for the public to use but they were not always used as they should be.
"There are hundreds of litter bins all along every beach edge and they can be viewed in all areas," she said.
McKinnon said various groups volunteered to clean certain areas but this was only helpful in the short term.
She said Cape Town had approximately 350km of very popular beach areas and it was difficult to give certain beaches the attention they needed because there was so much to do.
McKinnon said the dumping of cans, bottles, food wrappers and cigarette butts was a "huge problem" at this time of the year.
"All I can ask is that the public use the bins for their litter instead of just dropping it where they sit or walk. There are green litter bins within easy distance of every location," said McKinnon.
Monwabisi Beach was covered in chicken bones and bottles yesterday after several days of festivities, and Clifton and Camps Bay beaches have been littered with cans and wrappers almost every day since the holidays started.
Meanwhile, widespread littering and the illegal dumping of rubbish in Cape Town's suburbs have become a serious year-round problem.
Open spaces and street corners are used to dump piles of litter.
Bulelwa Koti of Gugulethu said the problem in her area began when a building at the back of their house was dismantled and people started dumping their rubbish at the site.
She said she had to build a high fence to block out the sight of rubbish but could not open windows because of the smell and flies on a hot day.
Koti said she did not confront the illegal dumpers because she wanted to maintain good relations with them.
Mowbray resident Irma Burnell said they had complained to their ward councillor about dumping and littering.
She said residents did not leave their rubbish lying around - it was outsiders who caused most of the trouble.
"The only problem is the trolley pushers because they scratch the bins and that causes a bit of a mess. But we clean it up."
Another resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "We pay rates and expect the basic services to be rendered."
He said his house was being renovated and residents had already complained about the rubbish and wanted to know how long it would take for the renovations to be completed.
McKinnon said the city provided cleaning services in the townships "but under very difficult circumstances".
She said their workers were often chased out of certain townships by the residents who said they wanted to be employed to do the cleaning.
"In many areas we clean the streets and within a day or two it looks as if we had not been there for months.
"Every resident has a wheelie bin and it is serviced every week, as is the rest of the city, so there really is no excuse for the mess.
"We have erected hundreds of signs over the past two years and will continue to do so. Some areas improve, in some areas it makes no difference at all and in some areas the signs get stolen as quickly as we erect them," she said.
McKinnon said streets in the suburbs received "a lot less cleaning than those in the townships" and some residents had "garden staff" who cleaned the frontages too.
"It would be helpful if ward councillors and street committees could assist in educating and encouraging the public not to dump or litter and utilise the wheelie bin service correctly."
According to McKinnon, "hot spots" in the city were identified and cleared as often as possible.
"But the public do not pay careful attention and as soon as it is cleared, they bring more waste and dump it."
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