Huge concern about uncollected refuse

The residents of Madombidzha Zone IB, at the new stands near Maluta Secondary School along the Magau road, have raised concerns about the uncollected refuse at the local refuse control site.

According to a community leader, Vho-Simon Matambule, the Makhado Municipality has failed to collect refuse for the past eighteen months and this kind of negligence has affected the local residents.

“They put the refuse control station in place some two years ago, with two big rubbish containers, but they did not come to collect the refuse,” he said. “The rubbish containers are spilling over onto the ground and the refuse is making its way onto the road. I personally tried to report the matter to the municipal officials who I thought were responsible for refuse collection. Each time I spoke with them, they would give me empty promises.”

Matambule said that the residents were worried about the venomous snakes which slithered in the refuse scattered on the ground. “I know those snakes are dangerous – snakes such as cobras - and it's not safe to live near such a refuse site,” he lamented. “Why is the municipality not attending to this problem?”

More residents complained about the ubiquitous flies which swarm into their houses from the refuse control site. “We try using insecticides to kill and repell flies, but it is useless because they come again in large numbers,” Matambule said.

The spokesperson for the Makhado Municipality, Mr Louis Bobodi, agreed that it was the municipality's responsibility to collect the refuse. “Our employees are currently there, making sure that the situation is under control and our truck will collect the refuse soon,” he said on Tuesday. “The truck will collect the refuse every Sunday, starting from this oncoming Sunday.”

Matambule said that the residents would be happier if the municipality kept their promise of service delivery. “We will watch the site and see if they are doing the work which they must do,” he said.

News - Date: 12 June 2015

Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

Email: [email protected]