A group of residents in Generaal De Wet in Bloemfontein have started a campaign, volunteering to clean their residential area while the service delivery crisis in the Mangaung Metro continues unbated.
This Saturday, 17 February, they were all hands on deck, cleaning their area, which had been engulfed by vegetation and tonnes of uncollected refuse rotting all over the streets.
Armed with tools, they cut down natural vegetation such as grass and trees dwarfing them and obscuring their view.
The clean-up campaign is planned twice a month, depending on the type of service deemed urgent and required.
The campaign became possible through coordination by three residents: Henk de Wet and Waldo Jeneke, as well as his wife Bernice.
Residents said the campaign had been prompted by the ongoing lack of delivery of basic services, despite them paying monthly for such services. Residents expressed grave concern that some uncaring residents aggravate the dire situation of the lack of service delivery by disposing of waste everywhere.
The irresponsible disposal of waste continues with the problem of inconsistent waste collection.
“We are experiencing a problem with members of the community who continue to dump waste in the areas that we try to keep clean. It is demoralising that people who try to keep the area clean are private citizens who volunteer their time and resources, while others dispose of waste willy-nilly, in the midst of municipality failure to provide such services,” said Refilwe Phage, activist member of the Generaal De Wet community cleaning campaign.
