More than 300 people will be permanently employed by the eThekwini Municipality to collect waste in the uMlazi area.

This is according to the newly appointed chairperson of Human Settlements in the municipality, Thanduxolo Sabela, who said that the posts will be advertised in the next few weeks to come.

“The posts are for people who will be working in the uMlazi area only. I have met with the officials and we have agreed that they will be advertised within three weeks,” Sabela said to iOL.

Sabela was speaking at the launch of the Clean and Maintain my Township programme in uMlazi.

During the launch, the municipality’s officials together with members of Parliament collected waste in the area and also listened to the community’s concerns.

In June, eThekwini councillors unanimously agreed to do away with the outsourcing of waste collection contracts in Umlazi. 

The decision was taken during a full council sitting at Durban City Hall on the basis that there had been continuous waste management disruptions since December 2017, with the most recent taking place this month.

The disruptions, according to the reports, posed a health hazard as waste often went for weeks uncollected. This was as a result of contractors disputing payment with the city, which often ran into tens of millions of rands a month.