Team work is making the dream work as various City departments, together with community organisations, local residents, and EPWP workers are transforming six spaces that had suffered chronic illegal dumping into healthy green spaces in Nyanga and Gugulethu. With Solid Waste Management’s Cleansing branch leading the effort, Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Waste Alderman Xanthea Limberg joined the team as they got their hands dirty to raise awareness about illegal dumping. See the video: https://youtu.be/dLQQOLlYLEI.

Illegal dumping remains a chronic challenge across Cape Town, and while the City budgets more than R100 million annually in efforts to clear dumping from almost 3000 ‘hotspots’ annually, dumped waste tends to reappear almost immediately after cleaning.

For this reason, the City’s Solid Waste’s Cleansing branch teamed up with local communities, with support from NGO partners, to try a different approach that will make dumpers think twice before dumping waste.

Two illegal dumping hotspots, one in Nyanga and one in Gugulethu, were selected for piloting the new ‘beautification’ intervention, with a view to creating a living green space that the community could enjoy and take pride in.

First, the waste was cleared over a period of several days, using specialised equipment including grab trucks and diggers. Once the spaces had been cleared local residents, together with City representatives and NGO partners, rolled up their sleeves and got to work planting the now-clear space with indigenous plants donated by the City’s Recreation and Parks department. Indigenous plants are resilient to the region’s weather patterns, and do not require much maintenance or water. Maintenance of the gardens will be a joint effort by the communities, an NGO, and the City.

Four more spaces will be beautified.

‘I’d like to commend Solid Waste team for leading this initiative, which shows what is possible when we come together to take a stand against illegal dumping. I thank the local residents, whose active involvement in the project is key to its success and sustainability. The message is clear – the broader community has had enough of living with the careless acts of a few.

‘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.

‘I thank the other City departments for their support, as well as the community organisations, who helped make the efforts on the day a success.

‘The City hopes to expand this programme to other areas in which illegal dumping is a chronic problem – sadly, these are not in short supply,’ said Alderman Xanthea Limberg, Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Waste.

The City provides a weekly refuse collection service to both formal and recognised informal households.

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. This is an important step for preventing dumping and pollution in surrounding areas. The additional bin will be charged at the standard tariff, to cover increased costs associated with servicing the property.

Source: City Of Cape Town