Buffalo Pass should be one of the shining lights of East London, but continues to be a site of some of the city’s most brazen illegal dumping activity.
In 2017, the Daily Dispatch visited the pass that runs through the Umtiza Nature Reserve, with its population of monkeys, porcupine and duiker.
What should have been an urban Eden was strewn with rubbish at numerous intervals along the 4km stretch of road that runs from Amalinda to the vicinity of East London airport.
Over the years, Buffalo City Metro (BCM) has managed to catch businesses dumping in the valley red-handed.
Among them was the Post Office, which apologised and cleaned up its mess.
A Dispatch site-visit this week revealed that the pass’s road surface is also in a mess.
Heavy duty trucks were seen in abundance heading in the direction of Cove Rock, placing tremendous strain on the asphalt. So prevalent are the potholes that motorists are forced to slow down and swerve between them.
Rubbish dumps at regular intervals are most apparent. It is clear efforts have been made to remove the rubbish in some areas, but more has been dumped there.
Resident Trevor Watson said he had repeatedly engaged with BCM officials about the state of the pass, but to no avail.
“They are totally lethargic, which is unacceptable since the reserve is home to the umtiza tree, which is unique to this area.”
Cove Rock resident Neil Smith has campaigned for waste transfer stations.“At the moment, people have to travel all the way to Berlin to get rid of waste.“Another suggestion I’ve had is to place skips for waste at strategic points along the pass. We’ve come up with these ideas, but they seem to fall on deaf ears.”Kevin Cole, of the East London Museum, said it was a “travesty” that the pass, which had “huge ecological significance”, was not being protected.BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said the municipality, as part of its Good Green Deeds Campaign, had established a task team that dealt with hotspots areas and awereness programmes."We will report the issue of the area to the department and task team," he said.Maintenance of the road fell under the provincial government, he said...