Durban residents have lodged complaints about illegal dumping in their areas and have urged for waste to be collected.
Clare Estate resident Trisha Ramnunan said illegal dumping has been ongoing in Clare Estate since 2021.
She said that in the past few months – and recently – residents, tenants and outsiders have visited Cartwood Place, where she lived, to dump their waste on vacant land.
Ramnunan said that the councillor has tried to help but was unable to find the owners of the vacant land.
We have put up signs at our own cost to discourage dumping; so we decided to take videos. On Friday afternoon, Ramnunan said, she noticed a truck attempting to dump illegally.
“Two guys jumped out of their truck and tried to offload their waste. Upon confrontation, they gave an excuse and drove off,” said Ramnunan.
Ramnunan said the truck then drove off to Reservoir Hills and they followed it.
“We took a video and put it on our WhatsApp crime chat group. We got told that they were caught by Reservoir Hills residents on the same day,” said Ramnunan.
She said she had contacted DSW in December to file a complaint and they said they would send a truck out the next Friday. They have yet to do so, she said.
She also reached out to local nonprofit organisations that do clean-ups in the city and they too were unavailable to assist, she added.
Reservoir Hills Ratepayers and Residents Association chairperson Ish Prahladh said that the association have alerted residents who spot a vehicle dumping, they must post it on chats; try to get the registration number and find the person while the DSW carries out the formal requirements.
“When we find the individual, we will go to their house and tell them to collect their rubbish,” said Prahladh.
Prahladh encouraged residents to monitor their roads, especially opposite bus stops.
“Now they are aware of what we are doing, they are not taking chances …” he said.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the Cleansing and Solid Waste Unit had conducted an awareness campaign to highlight the impact littering and illegal dumping has on the environment.
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