For some time now, the Thulamela Municipality has been accused of leaving the towns of Thohoyandou and Sibasa in a state of decay. The two major towns have become a health hazard for hundreds of residents, with practically every surface left littered and stinking.
Local residents are blaming hawkers for creating most of the mess and foul smells as they block the towns' street drains with dirty water and other rubbish they discard from their makeshift stalls.
Residents have persistently called on the municipality to put its house in order, while the municipality has argued that the towns are clean; they have a workforce specially appointed for the task. Only when angry residents started collecting garbage around town and dumping it on the municipality's premises did they seem to realise a problem existed.
Mr Lufuno Madzhie, who works in Thohoyandou, said the town had degenerated considerably over the past few years, to the extent where one could hardly breathe as a result of the stench. "We see these uniformed Thulamela workers, but they just loiter around town doing nothing. The other culprits are hawkers who dump their garbage everywhere and the municipality is doing nothing to curb this. I, for one, commend the residents who took a stand to wake the municipality up from its sleep by dumping garbage on their doorstep. That is the language they understand best," he said.
For a moment, the wake-up call seemed to have worked. On Monday, 13 March, the municipality, led by Mayor Sarah Rammbuda, gave in to the pressure of the community and embarked on a clean-up exercise around the town of Thohoyandou. They were joined by other stakeholders, including Univen, led by its principal, Dr Bernard Nthambeleni, and the staff at Vhembe TVET College.
But the residents soon started to doubt the sincerity behind this show of concern for the town's health and appearance. Some claimed that the clean-up campaign was nothing but damage control and a PR exercise by the municipality. "They just come here wearing their work suits and stand to pose for pictures. We have seen this many times before. We are not at all impressed. They are failing to take control of the towns, and this is not helping us at all," said another resident.
Mr Simon Madi, the head of waste management in Thulamela, denied that they were being pressured by members of the community. "We have a competent staff that ensures that the town is always clean. The clean-up campaign on Monday was the culmination of a partnership we forged with Univen and Vhembe TVET College in 2022. We were finally launching the partnership where residents of this municipality will benefit in terms of environmental awareness and will put the theory in practice. This will help keep our towns neat all the time," he said.