By Loushe Jordaan Gilbert

The City of Cape Town’s [COCT] waste collection department has suspended services in several township areas due to extortion and attacks on workers.

Gugulethu is the latest area where the city had to withdraw refuse collection staff due to threats of attack unless the city pays protection fees.

Other affected areas are Philippi East/Lower Crossroads and Nyanga. In addition, a flare up of gang violence in Manenberg has led to temporary withdrawal of services until the area is calm again.

Last month, officials withdrew services in Philippi East following a deadly attack on private security escorts protecting city staff and vehicles operating in the area. Two security guards were killed.

Speaking to VOC breakfast on Wednesday morning, Dumisani Qwebe, Nyanga Community Policing Forum [CPF] Secretary

Said they are in contact with the relevant authorities to find a way forward.

“It is unfortunate that refuse collection services have been suspended because this ultimately impacts on our health and that of our children, so it is very important to get these services back in our community,” he stressed.

Qwebe said although the extortion threats didn’t come directly from residents in Nyanga, it still affects them. Qwebe stated that the issue of criminality and how to overcome it was discussed back in 2017, yet now that they are faced with the challenge, finding a solution seems daunting.

“We discussed the issue of extortion almost six years ago when we noticed that acts of extortion were rife in some areas and we thought being proactive would help us, but it hasn’t. we need to work as a collection, councilors, community members and the COCT, otherwise we will have no services available in our areas,” he said.

The COCT has since called on the South African Police Services [SAPS] to investigate and to take urgent action against the perpetrators of these schemes.

Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Waste Management, Alderman Grant Twigg reassured residents that the department is doing everything in its power to restore services to the area.

“The city’s Urban Waste Management is exploring various ways to restore services as soon as possible including continuing to work with the Safety and Security Directorate. The city calls on residents to please refrain from dumping uncollected waste, and to watch the media (including the City’s social media channels) for further updates about clearing existing backlogs in the area, or possible adjusted waste collection schedules,” he said.