The embattled Emfuleni Local Municipality is set to debate a motion aimed at tackling its escalating waste crisis after once again failing to collect refuse weekly across most of its 45 wards. The collapse in services has left large parts of the municipality neglected, with only five operational trucks currently serving the Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging areas. This revelation has heightened concerns amid long-standing complaints about Emfuleni’s inability to meet service-delivery targets, ongoing financial mismanagement, and the worsening state of basic services to residents.
Reports indicate that since 2024, and even in the years prior, the municipality has repeatedly failed to carry out weekly refuse collection. Several waste-transfer stations have also been shut down. Critics warn that illegal dumping, now widespread across Emfuleni, is spiralling into what they describe as an environmental catastrophe, fuelled directly by these closures and the collapse of basic waste-management systems.
Previously, Elize Aucamp, Democratic Alliance councillor for Ward 45 in the Emfuleni Local Municipality, said the waste department was incapable of collecting refuse, disposing of it correctly, or even keeping trucks fuelled with diesel. She further noted that the party had repeatedly written to the municipal manager requesting clarity on steps to prevent the crisis from recurring. “This was not the first time, and despite having hope, we do not believe that this will be the last time,” she added. Aucamp stressed that the party had demanded the removal of the refuse-removal surcharge from residents’ accounts, as refuse collection simply was not taking place.
