By Kouthar Sambo

The City of Cape Town (COCT) said contingency measures are in place to ensure minimal delays to refuse collection services in Lavender Hill.

This comes after a refuse compactor truck was involved in an incident where a section of the road gave way while it was driving in the area.

Overseer for the organization Women Hope for the Nation and leader of the Village Heights informal settlement in Lavender Hill, Aysha Davids, said the community has taken it upon themselves to embark on clean-up efforts.

“The contract of the informal settlement stopped in June already, and we are sitting where people do not even come to collect the waste. The community themselves have conducted clean-up campaigns to keep the area clean, but they cannot keep up,” said a despondent Davids.

She has no idea about the progress of the allocated budget, explained Davids since the COCT did not employ additional Expanded Public Works Program (EPWP) workers as this process had to be in place a while back.

“The waste is still an issue, and so are other issues, such as the area’s street lights that have no electricity – we have been complaining for months and still waiting on the lights to be fixed. Apparently, the manager said we must teach our communities to stop vandalizing the infrastructure so things can function normally. But it is not people living in the area that are vandalizing,” reiterated Davids.

Photo: Supplied