Annually, the City budgets more than R100 million to clean up illegal dumping hot spots but almost 3000 of these are filled with waste almost immediately after clean up.
With the help of City departments, community organisations, local residents, and EPWP (Expanded Public Works Programme) workers, spaces which been used as illegal dumping sites have been transformed into healthy green spaces in Nyanga and Gugulethu.
NGOs and the City’s Solid Waste’s Cleansing branch teamed up to clean the hot spots.
The City has selected two illegal dumping hot spots in Nyanga and Gugulethu to pilot the new “beautification” intervention, allowing the community to take pride in their campaign, creating a green space for the community.
Four more spaces will be beautified.
Over a number of days the spaces were cleaned up, using specialised equipment like grab trucks and diggers, after City representatives, NGOs and local residents teamed up to plant indigenous plants donated by the City’s Recreation and Parks department.
Indigenous plants are resilient to the region’s weather patterns and therefore do not require as much maintenance, which will be a joint effort by the parties involved in the clean-up and transformation.
“We want to raise awareness around how serious the illegal dumping challenge is, and instead of just cleaning these spaces, turning them into healthy, positive green spaces for the communities to enjoy,” said mayoral committee member for water and waste Xanthea Limberg.
She added that the City has hoped to expand this initiative to other areas in which illegal dumping was a problem.
The City provides a weekly refuse collection service to both formal and recognised informal households. As a step in preventing dumping and pollution in surrounding areas, property owners or landlords with backyarders or tenants, are encouraged to apply for extra bins to contain the waste their tenants generate on the property.
Submit service requests, including requests for additional bins, via one of the following channels:
- Call 0860 103 089
- Online www.capetown.gov.za/servicerequests
- Visit a City walk-in centre (see www.capetown.gov.za/facilities to find the one closest to you)
- Email: wastewise@capetown.gov.za
