The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Lephalale will launch a petition following what appears to be an outrageous and unilateral decision by the ANC-led Lephalale Municipality to penalise entire streets of residents for illegal dumping—regardless of individual guilt. The petition opposes this contemptible action and demands that the municipality withdraw the unlawful charges and focus on actual law enforcement.
According to a public notice dated 21 July 2025 and signed by the Acting Municipal Manager, the municipality intends to impose a “special refuse removal charge” of R276.52 per household in a street where illegal dumping has occurred—allegedly to cover clean-up costs. See here
This questionable approach appears not only punitive but highly irregular. Incredibly, the municipality has confirmed that not a single fine or enforcement action was taken in the previous financial year for any incidents of illegal dumping. Rather than enforcing existing by-laws and holding perpetrators accountable, the municipality now wants to collectively punish law-abiding residents, many of whom are already suffering under poor service delivery, erratic waste collection, and decaying infrastructure.
It is unacceptable to expect compliant households to foot the bill for the misconduct of others and the municipality’s own inability to enforce the law.
Even more disgraceful is the context in which this decision is being made. While the municipality shirks its enforcement duties and fails to keep our streets clean, the Mayor and a hand-picked group of officials are reportedly preparing to spend around R625,000 on a luxury junket to Lesotho under the guise of “employee wellness.”
This blatant double standard reveals exactly where the ANC’s priorities lie: on perks and privileges, not the people.
The DA will not allow this to go unchallenged. We will be launching a petition to oppose this contemptible action and demand that the municipality withdraw the unlawful charges and focus on actual law enforcement.
This is about more than illegal dumping. It is about the collapse of basic municipal functioning,
The DA will continue to fight for accountability and service delivery.