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Bloemfontein CBD strewn with waste

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The CBD in Bloemfontein is filled to the brim with waste. This as the municipality is failing to keep streets and public areas clean.

Litter remains uncollected and it’s not certain when mop up operations will begin.

The stink coming from heaps of rubbish is hampering business and even hawkers are complaining.

Businessman Sagor Biswas is not happy about the smell where his business is situated.

“This is too much of a problem. Everyday I’m suffering, when it’s raining it is going to block this place and it’s too ugly, and sometimes it’s too much of a smell here. You see people can’t pass here sometimes it’s too much on holidays, Saturdays and Sundays and when Monday comes I can’t see my shop I see only rubbish.”

Hawker Nkeletseng Lephachu says the municipality does not collect waste as expected.

“Municipal workers take time to come and collect rubbish. They don’t collect it every day and we struggle. Even when we clean ourselves sometimes the wind blows, leaving the area dirty again.”

People are disgusted with the situation, with one expressing their dissatisfaction: “This is the city that should be clean and the municipality should collect this rubbish within two days, but as you see this rubbish is all over and we’re having people who are selling their goods here, so they spoil everything. This spoils the business of the people, our economy will not grow enough for us. I’m not happy at all about this.”

The municipality says the collections are slow because of the fleet but the matter is being attended to.

Mangaung Metro Municipality spokesperson Qondile Khedama says: “During the holidays the citizens of Mangaung know there’s an approach by now and there are messages that we have been sending out and today we have been getting a good response from both citizens and business. Regarding some of the traders that are taking the waste to areas that are not designated we have made an appeal to them that they must make sure that the waste is taken to designated areas so that it makes it easier for refuse collectors to identify. But also to make sure that the city is kept clean. The reason that most of our areas are dirty especially in the CBD is because some of the traders and informal traders are not taking their refuse where they are supposed to be picked up by our collectors.”

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