ADENDORP NEWS - Residents of Adendorp have been complaining for a long time about the litter and illegal dumping in general, and in particular at the river.
On 11 January, an eagle-eyed member of the community actually watched as an unmarked white Nissan bakkie brazenly emptied its load of refuse by the river.
He took several photos of the dumped refuse at the location and made a note of the registration number of the vehicle. Unfortunately, as soon as the bakkie's driver saw the resident's vehicle approaching, he drove off very quickly, so the resident was unable to get a photo of the vehicle.
The photos of the dumped refuse were posted on the local neighbourhood watch page on Facebook, and amidst the expressions of outrage were several suggestions that the guilty party must be made to clear it up!
It was confirmed by Graaff-Reinet SAPS that the vehicle belongs to the Graaff-Reinet SAPS Academy, and the resident was asked to report the matter to Col Taya at the Academy the following Monday.
On Wednesday, the Advertiser spoke to Lt Col André van Rooyen, acting commander of the Academy, about the situation.
As soon as the matter was reported to the Academy by the local police, the duty officer went out with the groundsmen involved to the site of the incident.
Apparently, the men had just mowed the lawns, and had garden refuse in the vehicle. They were in Adendorp on other business, and had decided to leave their garden refuse at the river, where there was already a great deal of refuse that had clearly been dumped over a period of time. When confronted about this, they admitted that they were wrong, and their refuse was removed and taken to the correct disposal site.
Lt Col Paula van Rooyen then dealt with the matter initially, and the men were reprimanded. On Col Taya's return from leave, disciplinary action was taken against the offenders.
Lt Col André van Rooyen stressed that no formal complaint was actually made at the Academy by the person who allegedly witnessed the illegal dumping, despite being contacted by Lt Col Paula van Rooyen directly with a request to do so.
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