Statement by Hon Cayla Murray, Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament:
“To commemorate Human Rights yesterday, 21 March, I held a community engagement at Joe Slovo Sport and Recreation Centre with residents in Ward 4, focussing on their constitutional right to an environment which is not harmful to their health or well-being.
“We particularly focussed on the issue of illegal dumping, which is a serious concern for community members. It also affects local infrastructure, such as stormwater drains, which leads to the already polluted Milnerton lagoon.
“I was joined by Councillor Benadie, Director Haider from the Western Cape Government, and officials from the City of Cape Town, including Mr Titus and Mr Poswa – who provided a presentation on the steps being taken by the City to address this issue.
“Together with the community, we promoted awareness around and identified solutions to address issues related to illegal dumping.
Among the solutions proposed by the community were:
- Improving reporting of illegal waste;
- Promoting awareness around waste management in communities and schools;
- Including community leaders as watch-people to monitor for and report illegal dumping; and
- Fencing off open spaces where dumping occurs.
“These solutions stemmed from issues identified by the community including concerns around the appointment of contractors, the availability of blue bags, and insufficient bins.
“At the end of the event, members of the community were given blue bags to conduct their own clean-ups and drop the bags at designated points.
“Going forward, I will be arranging a community clean-up in Joe Slovo, and I will be meeting with Councilor Benadie, the Sub-Council and officials from the City of Cape Town and Western Cape Government on how to address and implement the solutions put forward today.
“We will further be hosting a follow-up community engagement on steps taken to address the issues and solutions identified.
“Prior to the event, I also had the opportunity to visit local dumping hotspots in the community and was informed that Joe Slovo is among the City’s 21 hotspots for dumping. I also engaged first-hand with officials who were conducting clean-up operations. Cleansing operations also took place before the event. I also saw that while there is a lot more work that needs to be done, the work that is being done is making it easier for the informal economy to do business and improving the overall wellbeing of the community.
“I want to sincerely thank each resident who took the time to join us and to engage us on this important issue, helping to identify solutions. These solutions will ensure that we can realise our hard-won rights to a good and clean environment”.
