City of Cape Town's refuse collection halted in Manenberg due to escalating gang violence

Mandilakhe Tshwete

The City of Cape Town has suspended refuse collection services due to ongoing gang violence in Manenberg.

Community members said they were informed on Thursday morning about the suspension.

In a statement the city informed Manenberg residents that waste collection services in the area have been suspended until further notice. This is due to high rates of gang violence in the area. 

Acting Mayoral Committee Member (Mayco) for Urban Waste Management, Councillor Siseko Mbandezi explained the refuse collection staff have to work in the crossfire between gangs regularly, and this is presenting an unacceptable risk to their safety. 

“Over the coming week, Urban Waste Management officials will seek to urgently engage relevant stakeholders around possible interventions to assist with the return of services to the area. Updates will be released in due course. 

“I assure the residents of the area that this decision has not been taken lightly. Staff members working in the area have shown their commitment to serving the community under very unsafe conditions in recent years. 

“The city will explore new strategies for servicing the area that can improve the safety of those who provide services.”

The city asked residents to refrain from dumping for as long as they can. 

“The area will be prioritised to have their bins emptied as soon as possible. The city will provide updates when these are available,” Mbandezi said.

“Please ensure your bins are out and available for collection when requested.”

Manenberg Community police forum (CPF) deputy chairperson Vanessa Adriaanse said the situation is quite bad in the area.

“We don’t blame the city for not wanting to come into the communities with the situation in this place, because one needs to keep in mind that the workers need to put food on the table for their families, but one can never expect someone to stand up in the morning and go to work knowing that the bullet might hit you because of the ongoing senseless shootings that are taking place.

“So one cannot hold the city accountable for saying that they don't want to come into the community of Manenberg because of the ongoing shootings, we need to up our game as CPF, we need to improve our game as SAPS. What we also need to do is yes, we have asked for extended services. The office of JP Smith Safety Office has given us more services and assistance in terms of Law Enforcement and other things. 

“Manenberg police station is understaffed, which makes it difficult to conquer such a war. 

“This year, there have been quite a few murders. They are shooting daily. There's no time specifically speaking about the shootings, we don't know what is making these gangsters so heartless because they don't even care anymore whether it's day or night. These thugs take advantage. We went to the city, and we appealed to the government to suspend load shedding in Manenberg because of the extent of the shootings."

Adriaanse added that the shootings have affected the community in many ways.

“When you have dirt piling up, it is sometimes unlikely to see what is taking place. So you will have a body that will lay there, and the community won't know for weeks or months that that body is lying there because of the amount of it lying there. So, it definitely has a negative effect. It's affecting people's health. We have people going to the hospital. We have people picking up more germs.” 

mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za