Allegations that Umsunduzi Municipal Officials and some businesses engage in greedy, corrupt, criminal and hazardous activities in Umsunduzi Landfill Site, as reported in today’s Mercury (Wednesday, August 26, 2020; p. 3) are shocking and disgusting to say the least. According to the Mercury, these officials “have allegedly been running the New England Landfill site as a personal fiefdom where bribery, rampant abuse of overtime, the dumping of hazardous waste, and truck drivers’ violent attempts to drive over contractors and security guards are the order of the day.”
Just recently, Umsunduzi communities suffered terribly from inhaling hazardous chemicals when the site mysteriously caught fire, which was not for the first time. Children, the elderly and sick residents had to be rushed to hospitals. Strangely, no one knew the cause of the fire.
To hear that Municipal officials and some unscrupulous businesses are colluding and engaging in greedy, corrupt, hazardous and criminal activities to enrich themselves is disgusting. It displays that they have lost sense of being human. No government must be associated with such employees.
Firstly, the IFP applauds Umsunduzi Municipality’s efforts to engage in this forensic investigation. Secondly, all officials found to have been part of these hazardous acts – and their accomplices – must face the law and receive very harsh prison sentences because their activities are tantamount to attempting murder. They are a danger to society.
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Contact:
M. Joshua Mazibuko; MPL
KwaZulu-Natal IFP Spokesperson on Conservation and Environmental Affairs
0839926135
[email protected]