MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay Advertiser received reports of rubbish scattered across a hill in JCC Camp, which can be spotted when driving alongside Dias Beach on Louis Fourie Road.

The Advertiser spoke to community members of JCC Camp, who said the Mossel Bay Municipality does provide waste removal services to residents, such as a simple plastic bag in which to throw their rubbish away.

This is true for some households in JCC Camp. While some are provided with plastic bags, many are not and they told the Advertiser they have to ask their neighbours to spare one for them to use.

The plastic bags are collected once a week. The two skips in the area, which were provided by the municipality and fill up quickly, are emptied on Mondays, said one resident.

But despite waste removal services, litter remains a persistent problem for this community.

Empty milk cartons, glass bottles, various plastic containers, pieces of cardboard and even used nappies can be seen when entering the area.

Some of the nappies seen next to the road in JCC Camp.

One of the community leaders, Sivuyile Tokozwayo, told the Advertiser that because only certain households receive plastic bags, not all of the waste that accumulates can be collected by the municipality's trucks.

"Some people make use of the skips to throw away their rubbish, others are lazy to do that. Instead, they just throw it on the ground. It would be better if the municipality could supply all of us with plastic bags," Tokozwayo explained.

Dumping
It is easier to get rid of waste by dumping it in an empty space, he says.

Tokozwayo also said that those who do put their rubbish out in bags to be collected, often put it out a few days ahead of time, allowing for dogs and other people to rummage through and leave a mess all over again. 

He has resorted to cleaning some of the litter himself. He said in summer, especially, the smell can get very bad.

"Even though it is so dirty, we try by all means to do what we can," he said. He tells people not to throw their rubbish on the ground and tries to clean up in other ways, such as cutting the grass himself.

JCC Camp faces other problems, not just waste removal. There is a lack of electricity in certain parts and inadequate toilets and housing.

Tokozwayo acknowledges that the community shares the responsibility of keeping their area clean, but says that a bit more help from the municipality would also be appreciated.

Following the visit to JCC Camp, the Advertiser sent questions to the municipality. Find questions and responses below:

1) A community leader of JCC Camp says the Mossel Bay municipality collects rubbish in that area every Wednesday or Thursday. Is this true? If yes, how does the municipality go about collecting the rubbish?
Scheduled refuse removal delivered by the municipality through use of its refuse compacting trucks is done on Wednesdays.
This is, as per the municipal waste removal service, for curbside refuse.
Refuse trucks cannot, due to their size, access informal settlements.

Therefore, the arrangement with residents in these areas is to leave their refuse bags in Walvis Street, which is the closest the trucks can get to the informal settlement area.

There are also two bulk skips placed in Walvis Street, adjacent to JCC camp, which the municipality services daily, unless there is a breakdown or an emergency.
The municipality, like in all other areas, upon receiving service delivery requests from residents pertaining to refuse removal, will service the area outside of these mentioned scheduled times, where possible.

2) Does the municipality provide rubbish bags to the community members of JCC Camp, as it does for areas, such as Heiderand? If yes, how often are the bags distributed?
The municipality supplies 39 refuse bags to households quarterly, which is part of awareness campaigns run prior to each distribution.
The latest awareness campaign was launched 1 February. It is conducted in all three official languages of the Western Cape. The ward councillor of a specific ward is responsible for distribution of refuse bags in informal settlements.

3) The community leader said the municipality provided two rubbish skips to JCC Camp, following a request made by the community. Is this true? If yes, would the municipality provide more skips to curb the persistent presence of litter/rubbish in the area?
Space is the only restriction to the provision of more skips. Two skips are the most that we could place, safely. The placement of skips was discussed with the ward councillor and placement was a result agreed upon.

4) Has the municipality been aware of the persistent rubbish in that area, despite rubbish collections and the presence of skips? If yes, in what ways is the municipality helping the situation in order to provide a clean living environment for JCC Camp residents?
The municipality actively conducts educational street campaigns in the area, as in other areas within the greater Mossel Bay area, to educate the community on waste segregation, illegal dumping and so forth.

During the past three months (November, December and January), regular, almost monthly clean-up operations were launched involving cleaning teams, during which less than a skip-full of waste was collected, in the hard-to-reach ravine area.

The safety of refuse collection teams must also be taken into account, considering the steep cliffs in the area. These teams comprise 10 to 15 workers.

5) Some residents of JCC Camp reside in more formal housing than others. What is the reason for this and will the residents currently living in shacks be provided with more formal housing as well? If yes, when can that be expected?
JCC Camp was established as the formal residential area.
However, as the population grew over the years, informal structures were erected without the approval of the municipality.
This is now known as the informal settlement, Asazani.
The municipality is providing basic services, for example toilets and standpipes.
There is a programme aimed at assisting all the informal settlements, called Upgrading of Informal Settlements (UISP).

The constant increase of the informal structures jeopardises the planning and ultimate implementation of the UISP.

The informal settlement next to JCC is one of the settlements to benefit on the UISP when the programme is implemented. It is important to remember that the provision of housing is the mandate of and funded by the national and provincial governments and implemented by local government (municipalities).

6) Does the municipality own the land of the entire JCC Camp, or some of the land? If the municipality does not own any of that land, who does?
The land where the informal settlement is situated is residential erven.
Some belong to private owners and some to the municipality.
The municipality is not at liberty to divulge the owner’s information due to the POPI Act.
Mossel Bay Municipality, through its Law Enforcement and Tactical Response units, actively patrols areas to curb unlawful land occupation. During December 2024 the following statistics (in relation to unlawful land invasion) can be noted:
1. Operations conducted (hours) - 1 248.
2. Monitoring patrols conducted - 948.
3. Unlawful structures removed - 28.

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