Residents of the Europe informal settlement in Nyanga are relieved following the removal of large mounds of rubbish which had piled up since December.

The problem occurred when some residents refused to allow the City of Cape Town to use its expanded public works programme database to select community contract cleaners. There were allegations of corruption, GroundUp reported on Wednesday.

Instead, residents wanted to randomly select 16 cleaners using the umnqwazi method, in which a small child draws names from a hat at a community meeting.

Residents agreed to use the city’s database following a six-hour meeting with ward 40 councillor Bongani Ngcombolo and municipal officials. By the end of last week, several municipal trucks collected refuse from three local dumping sites.

Resident Thozama Hinana said they had to show support and co-operate with Ngcombolo because they wanted development in their area.

“We beat those who were against the database with a majority vote. It was really significant because the countless protests we embark on sometimes take us nowhere.”

Thumeka Siwaphi, whose two-year-old boy, Lithemba, was bitten by rats, said the rodents were attracted by the rubbish.

“We feel much relieved that the rubbish has been cleared from our area,” she said. She appealed to the municipality to consistently maintain its refuse removal programme.

Resident Patricia Dayimani wanted the municipality to improve the supply of refuse bags to the area so people could collect their household trash.

Councillor Siyabulela Mamkeli, the mayoral committee member for Area Central, said recruitment had been postponed until Wednesday, to allow residents extra time to submit their job seekers’ forms. Once their information had been captured, 16 candidates would be selected at random.