Pretoria News reports that residents in parts of Tshwane have literally got their hands dirty, cleaning up uncollected waste in the streets.

Garbage has been piling up due to the five-week long SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) strike. Among other service issues, the strike has resulted in bags of uncollected waste and illegal dumping at sites across the city, while property owners have been subjected to overflowing bins in their yards. Ronald Venter of Lyttleton said he had rallied members of the community to start a up cleanup campaign because the smell of the rubbish was “starting to affect our health”. But, Susan Modisela of Silverton said: “We’re fighting a losing battle because even after we clean up we are still stuck no knowing where to throw the rubbish away, because all the waste sites are closed. This means we dump illegally, which is a criminal offence.” Simphiwe Seleka from Atteridgeville said there was an infestation of rodents, and a foul smell coming from the streets because of the garbage. Meanwhile, private security companies have volunteered to do patrols across the city to curb illegal dumping. The companies will also apprehend anybody who is caught dumping and hand them over to the Tshwane Metro Police Department.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mashudu Sadike at Pretoria News

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