ith rising temperatures, mounting piles of rubbish and the risk of airborne diseases, Section 16 residents, in Philippi, are calling on the City of Cape Town to speed up the process of appointing a cleaning company. Residents say refuse has not been collected since the start of the year and the area has turned into a “pigsty”. In an interview with City Vision, resident Nwabisa Masiza said there has been a drastic increase in dumping since the last refuse collection towards the end of last year. “The bad thing is we are not informed about what is happening by our leaders. We just see the piles of rubbish uncollected along the road while other rubbish is dumped on the open spaces between the houses,” said Masiza. She urged the City to urgently hire another cleaning company before things get out of control. “The last time the rubbish was collected was before Christmas Day. Lots of flies and an unbearable stench is coming into our houses,” she said. Masiza said they had a similar challenge at the beginning of last year. (“Cleaners in Block 8 down tools”, City Vision, 28 November 2019). Ward 80 councillor Nkululeko Mgolombane described the illegal dumping as a big challenge in his ward as there are no cleaners. He said the City is busy with the process of hiring a new company to clean the area. “The contract of the last company that was working there ended at the end of December. And some officials were already on December holiday, but the company will be hired soon,” he said but didn’t confirm which month. Mgolombane said the situation is exacerbated by people who renovate their houses. They are also illegally dumping.