Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

700 Bloemfontein residents say no to municipal refuse removal tariff

The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality can now cite no other reason than its own reluctance to exempt 700 households from the monthly municipal refuse collection fee. AfriForum today served a legal letter with the applications for exemption from 700 Bloemfontein residents at the municipal office on the municipal manager, Sello More. The civil rights organisation already wrote to this metro in January this year to finalise the exemption applications – for which the Metro’s own by-laws make provision. So far, the metro has still not been able to provide a definitive answer on this, as part of their proven delay tactics.

The households requesting an exemption of the municipal refuse removal tariff already pay monthly private refuse removal services to provide this service as the Mangaung Metro has a history of service delivery that is anything but rosy. In the past, there has been no refuse removal from the Mangaung Metro for weeks and households had to make alternative plans, but despite the lack of service delivery, they still had to pay the refuse removal tariff to the municipality.

In its legal letter, AfriForum argues that this letter and the accompanying applications are submitted to the municipality by hand so that there is no more splitting hairs over what exactly is being requested and how many households are requesting the exemption. Furthermore, reference is made to the sporadic nature of the refuse removal service, that there is no fixed schedule for this service and that at times the service is not provided at all.

“We want to know whether the applications were approved or not and if they were rejected we want to know why. Instead of giving us an answer, the municipality is using all sorts of delay tactics to continue to collect residents’ refuse removal fees for a service that private refuse removal services now provide. Residents have the right to decide for themselves who they want to get reliable service delivery from and may not be dictated to by a municipality to make use of their unsustainable services,” says Lambert de Klerk, AfriForum’s Manager for Environmental Affairs.

“The situation clearly shows that the Mangaung Metro and their leadership do not value requests from the community, which results in residents still having to pay for a service even though no services are being provided. In some cases, members are even forced to incur double costs to have their refuse removed,” says Christo Groenewald, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for Bloemfontein.

Many townhouse complexes are currently victims of the Mangaung Metro’s poor service delivery. Hundreds of refuse bags are piled up due to the Metro’s inability to remove the refuse regularly and on schedule. This causes great frustration among residents as informal refuse collectors tear open the bags and then leave them there, attracting disease-carrying pests, such as rats and even snakes. “This creates a dangerous situation that threatens the health of residents as well as the safety of the community,” adds Groenewald.

“We will not give up until justice is served and people get what they pay for. We will continue to support our members in the fight against poor service delivery and are prepared to go to court if necessary,” says Jaco Grobbelaar, AfriForum’s Regional Head for the Central Region. “Refuse collection has been a problem in Bloemfontein and surrounding areas for years due to the municipality’s poor management. Municipal by-laws provide for exemptions and it is time that we start demanding that right. The leadership of the Metro must also accept accountability for the failure of services that affect the community.”

AfriForum has been providing a refuse removal service to households in Bloemfontein for some time and, early in February this year, AfriForum deployed its new orange refuse removal truck to remove approximately 20 tons of refuse. Bloemfontein residents can make use of this service. Visit www.vullisverwydering.co.za for more information.