Mangaung Metro fails to remove refuse – here is the solution

Taxpayers in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality are suffering from poor service delivery, especially in relation to refuse removal in Bloemfontein. As a result, thousands of people are starting to make use of private refuse removal services – meaning that residents now have to pay double for this service. AfriForum encourages residents of the Mangaung Metro to send a request to the Metro to cancel this service so that they do not have to pay for it twice.

“It is time for the community to raise their voice and say no to paying for a service that is not provided. If the municipality cannot deliver this service properly, we will do it ourselves,” says Jaco Grobbelaar, AfriForum’s regional head of the central region. “Services provided privately are more reliable and cheaper than what the municipality is currently charging us. Therefore, residents must use the opportunity to inform the municipality that they use other refuse removal services and no longer need the municipality’s refuse removal. AfriForum itself has been providing a sustainable refuse removal service to members and non-members in Bloemfontein for the past four years, it can be done.”

The municipal bylaw clearly states that residents are liable to pay the rates if the municipality provides the waste services but that residents can be exempted if they notify the municipality in writing and the municipality then agrees to it. According to this bylaw, residents who already use private refuse removal services have the right to cancel their municipal refuse removal services and costs. Note that it remains the responsibility of the complainant – who will be requesting this cancellation in their own capacity – to follow up with the relevant metro regarding the cancellation of their services and costs.

“It is unacceptable and unfair that taxpayers must pay twice for a service that they only receive once. The community is tired of struggling to keep their areas tidy. The garbage piles up in front of residents’ homes for weeks and this has a direct impact on residents’ health and safety,” says Christo Groenewald, District Coordinator of AfriForum in Bloemfontein.