After 18 months, over R500 000 and 677 hours of work, using his TLB, Sean Russell, owner of Russell and Son Funeral Directors, is still keen on doing his clean-up projects and working with communities to find solutions to the current refuse removal challenges facing the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality (EMLM).
While some politicians accused him of campaigning so he could stand as an independent councillor and subsequently the executive mayor of EMLM, Russell said all he wanted was to inspire people to play their part.
“It was an unintended consequence that the municipality’s lack of providing services was exposed. The intention was to encourage people to play their part and this is partly working because people are now starting to clean their properties,” Russell said.
Russell has fond memories of a clean town with roses in flower beds in the CBD while he was growing up. He said his training ground for the funeral family business was Mlungisi, where he did a lot of work with his late father in a clean environment.
But all this work started when he realised that the municipality was failing to clean the graveyard.
“I bought a TLB to clean the graveyard but then it occurred to me that public areas were also dirty and I went on to clean there. My first project was in Mlungisi, where we cleared illegal dumping sites,” he said.
The government has not been providing solutions for refuse removal, he said. Russell said he would love to have a community consultation process where solutions can be brought and a municipal buy-in sought.
“As a business we had been saving to celebrate our centenary of operations. We had saved R500 000 over 10 years but we have since used all that money in the past 18 months. If we can put a rand on the work done we spent R50 000 in one project in Mlungisi. The problem is that when you go back, illegal dumping has started again,” Russell said.
Russell was not getting any support from the municipality despite his doing its work.
“I pay to service the electrical unit bakkies and trucks but they refuse to collect the refuse in the areas where I have cleared. At one stage, I saw a tipper trailer for sale and I was able to raise R120 000 overnight from local businesses.”
Russell said he had also bought working uniforms and material for 20 people working for the municipality at the graveyard.
“Government is not changing and I do not entirely blame the community for illegal dumping.
“There is no alternative for them when refuse has not been collected. We need to gather people with understanding of impoverished areas so we can have solutions to these challenges, he said.
With a full-time job as the owner of the parlour, Russell continues to dedicate half his day to the people of Komani. “I have a strong six-person management team that does the day-to-day running of the parlour. So I do the community work from around 09:00 until 13:00 then I go to deal with logistical work at the parlour. But because Komani is small, I can always rush to the office when there is a need,” he said.
About 30 young people had been employed by Russell to work with his company at the graveyard on weekends and their employment has been extended to involve the community work Russell has been doing.
“It breaks my heart to see the town like this. I am raising my hand to help as a community member. We need practical solutions to this challenge. I can no longer afford high volume projects but I am concentrating on one- or two-day projects, as I am spreading myself across Komani and its townships,” he said.
The project has not been smooth sailing for this philanthropist, as he had been accused of campaigning to become mayor of EMLM prior to the local government elections. Russell would like to get help from a sponsor with a truck to help make the work a little easier.
“The elections have come and gone, the people have spoken, so it is up to the municipality to step up and repair the municipality,” he concluded.
