The ongoing environmental degradation of the Diep River along Malibongwe Drive near Dunoon clearly demonstrates that the DA-controlled City of Cape Town’s efforts to combat illegal dumping in and around wetland areas have failed and the situation is out of control.
The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) and residents have already lodged numerous complaints about the dumping of household waste, building rubble and other refuse in this sensitive river system – but to no avail.
The pollution threatens an important ecological corridor that forms part of the larger Diep River catchment area and flows into the Milnerton Lagoon.
Diep River is a key component of the City of Cape Town’s rehabilitation programme for the Milnerton Lagoon. The river is part of a broader catchment area and plays a role in biodiversity, water quality and flood control. So, it is a system that affects the entire city’s natural environment.
Filling wetland areas with dumped material destroys biodiversity and increases the risk of flooding.
Although the City has impounded several trucks used in illegal dumping, law enforcement remains sporadic and inconsistent.
An even greater cause for concern is that there are reportedly individuals with clipboards at these illegal dumping sites, coordinating trucks and receiving payments before waste may be offloaded. If true, these reports point to more than random dumping, but to an organised and criminal operation.
Alarming questions requiring answers are:
• Who benefits from these activities?
• Who receives the payments at the sites?
• Under what authority do they operate?
• Why has no decisive action been taken to put a stop to these alleged activities?
The Freedom Front Plus calls for stricter law enforcement and greater accountability in the fight against illegal dumping.
The party proposes that truck owners be held liable when their vehicles are used for committing such offences; with measures including substantial fines, blacklisting from municipal contracts, suspension of permits and the permanent impoundment of vehicles for repeat offences.
In addition, the party insists that there should be constant control and monitoring at known hotspots, more visible patrols, a reward system for useful public tips, and that access to affordable and convenient waste disposal facilities be expanded to address the problem more effectively.
The Diep River is a public asset and not a dumping site. Decisive action is urgently required.
