By Anish Abraham
THE CITY of Johannesburg's environmental health unit threatened to crack down on litterbugs over the summer holidays - and kept its promise. Over the festive season, 81 people caught littering in Johannesburg were fined between R300 and R1 000 for contravening the city's public health by-laws.
"Just as people keep their personal properties clean, we at the City would like to ensure that the surrounding environment is clean, tidy and sanitary," said Nic van Deventer, the unit's assistant director.
The City has stressed that it is illegal to dump waste on any vacant property, public space or pavement. Property owners have been urged to keep waste on their own property until it is taken to legal dumping sites by either themselves, waste management service providers or contractors.
The fine for dumping illegally from a vehicle or trailer is R1 000, R500 for a person using a wheelbarrow or a container to dump rubbish illegally, and R300 for general littering. If litterers don't pay their fines on time, they can be imprisoned for up to six months.
Van Deventer said dumping rubbish and littering affected the environment, devalued properties, caused disease, increased costs and led to negative and harmful perceptions of Johannesburg. Illegal dumping also places a burden on City finances: it cost R151-million to collect 73 647 tonnes of litter on the streets and R54-million to remove 272 962 tonnes of illegally dumped materials in the past year alone.
The environmental health unit wants people to get bulk waste containers during times such as renovations, so rubble can be properly contained while making sure traffic and pedestrian movement is not affected.
The City has adopted a "zero tolerance" approach and fines will be issued without remorse until illegal dumping ceases. Joburg was striving to become a world class city by 2030, and one of the ways of achieving that was ensuring a healthy and clean environment for its people, said Van Deventer.
Environmental health officers and the Metro Police have been working together to catch litterbugs, and residents are urged to help create a healthy and clean environment by reporting littering.
Reports can be made to these phone numbers:
- Region 1 and 2 011 237 8002
- Region 3: 011 881 6458
- Region 4: 011 474 6703/4/5/6
- Region 5: 011 761 0217
- Region 6: 011 986 0169/0170
- Region 7: 011 531 5564/6488
- Region 8: 011 376 8522
- Region 9: 011 681 8060/8082
- Region 10: 011 933 2422
- Region 11: 011 213 0019/0137
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