How effective is refuse collection in your town?
JOHANNESBURG - Many municipalities across the country are failing to manage their waste.
The situation is dire in the Gauteng province and will require a whopping R1 billion to restore essential refuse disposal services.
Years of neglect, chronic underfunding and poor fleet maintenance have left waste collection systems in disarray, while landfill sites are fast reaching capacity.
With garbage piling up and trucks standing idle, the situation is becoming a ticking time bomb - posing serious environmental and public health risks for residents.
A 2024 research by Marc Kalina and Catherina Schenck on rethinking municipal waste management 30 years into South African democracy, paints a grim picture.
The research says within South Africa, municipalities have become increasingly unreliable service providers.
This is despite holding the mandate of providing waste management services to all communities.
"Plagued with a decreasing taxpayer base relative to the population and increasingly fragile municipal governance and financial management, the financial integrity of South Africa's municipalities has been in an alarming decline," the research paper revealed.
Today's viewer question then is: How effective is refuse collection in your town?
The responses have been varied.
On X, Gabonewe Setshedi in Tshwane says waste is collected on Thursdays and they're making every effort to keep their areas clean.
He does note that services often get disrupted if there is an industrial action from their department.
eNCA
In KwaZulu-Natal, services are also efficient.
Samkelo Ntombela says in the eThekwini municipality, they have been doing a great job, but people from outside the country, make them work over time.
Luis Changuin is of the view that services are often disrupted due to delayed payments.
"In many cities, the internal or external service providers are not equipped to provide efficient waste removal. The delay of payment to external service providers also contributes to services being given withheld," the user said.
On Facebook, the responses leaned towards the negative.
Themba Lockdown Malinga says,
"The poor refuse collection issues in the city of Kimberley are a perfect reflection of the Sol Plaatje Municipality's performance. It's no wonder the municipality has been downgraded."
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