Residents and environmentalists are in uproar after piles of waste washed ashore on popular beaches in Table View and Milnerton recently.
Photos of litter on beaches have been shared over the past few weeks, especially at the polluted Milnerton Lagoon and Bloubergstrand Beach.
This sparked an outcry as these beaches not only face waste pile-ups but sewage leaks as well.
However, after weeks of not a single City clean-up crew in sight, a few cleaners were spotted at Milnerton Lagoon to clear the area.
“While much of the rubbish including the deluge of nappies has been washed back into the oceans by the high tide, the winter storms will vomit some of it back onto the beaches, albeit in smaller hard to pick-up pieces. The remainder will continue to add to the pollution load in the ocean. This cycle will repeat every time it rains, how do we do better Cape Town,” community activist, Caroline Marx says.
Ward 55 councillor Fabian Ah-Sing says that the rainy weather the past few weeks resulted in an increase in the amount of waste which is coming down the black river and washing out from the ocean.
“A clear sign of continued illegal dumping and littering,” he says.
“Our cleansing team has had numerous cleansing operations on our beaches over the past few weeks, but they simply have not been able to keep up with the sheer amount of waste,” Ah-Sing says.
The following solutions have been put in place:
- A massive clean-up with at least 20 staff members present.
- Starting this week, eight cleaners will service the beaches every day. “Litter traps is an option which needs further discussions and I will provide feedback on this option as soon as possible.
I am grateful that in the City of Cape Town, I am able to raise the concerns of our residents, and always get assistance wherever possible.”
Clean-up crews
Posts via social media poured in after a clean-up crew was spotted at Milnerton Beach.
“A heartfelt thank you goes out to the City of Cape Town for listening to our plea and sending a dedicated cleaning team to Milnerton Beach to clean up the large volumes of trash that were flushed out of the Black River after the last big storm beginning of May. Ricardo and his team have been diligently working at the beach for the past few days. Fabian Kevin Ah-Sing has assured us that a cleaning team of eight will continue to operate daily throughout winter. If you see them please snap a picture and post it here. Let’s shift our focus to discussing additional litter nets to prevent rubbish from reaching our beaches in the first place,” one of the posts read.
TygerBurger reached out to the City enquiring about waste which washed into the stormwater drains – from there into vleis and the sea (especially in the Milnerton area).
The City says when it comes to litter and contamination of rivers and vleis, prevention is better than cure.
“Once litter is dumped on the ground it becomes much more expensive to manage compared to if it was disposed of in a bin. As a developing society with limited resources we rather need to focus on promoting the use of collections and drop-off services available for residents to responsibly dispose of waste, instead of paying a premium to pick up after them,” says Grant Twigg, the City’s Mayco member for urban waste management.
Report littering, dumping
If you know of someone who is littering or dumping illegally, you can also report them so that a fine can be issued. If you have the culprit’s vehicle registration number and/or can identify him/her, call: 021 444 6231/ 021 444 6224 / 021 444 6223
Residents are also reminded of the following:
- Apply for extra bins if the standard 240-litre wheelie bin is not enough for the waste generated on the property.
- If you live in an informal settlement, and bagged household refuse has not been collected, this can also be reported by SMS to 32772 for attention. Reporting on uncollected waste helps the City ensure workers on the ground are performing to the required standard. If the City has rolled out orange-mounted bins in your areas please make use of this infrastructure.
- There are green litter bins in high pedestrian areas and beaches. Rather use these bins instead of throwing litter in the gutters where it can wash into our rivers and oceans.
“To deal with waste that is disposed of illegally Urban Waste Management runs various cleansing programmes and projects. The Winter Readiness programme specifically focuses on clearing waste around rivers and stormwater drains before winter rains arrive, to prevent flooding. We will always make an effort to come up with solutions to local challenges, for instance providing lockable bins in areas where these animals scavenge,” Twigg says.
TygerBurger reached out to the City after being inundated with questions about the lack of City clean-up crews.
Last week, the City that the matter is being investigated; however at the time of print, the City had not yet responded.
