Llewellyn Smith, Athlone
My refuse bin was stolen twice. On each occasion, it was reported to the Athlone police station.
My refuse bins were clearly marked with my address and sprayed blue in order to make them easy to identify.
My neighbours have suffered the same misfortune. What we have noticed is that on refuse removal day, waves of young men enter the area with nothing and start scratching in the refuse bins.
When they leave the area, they leave with a refuse bin laden with recyclable material.
Once again, some unfortunate resident has to report a stolen refuse bin.
With the theft recently of my refuse bin, I visited three recycling companies in the Athlone area, and found long queues of people with wheelie refuse bins on which the addresses were clearly marked.
I find it disconcerting that the police have not put a stop to this.
I am not in favour of depriving people of trying to make a living from recycling, but I am most certainly not in favour of the criminality that accompanies this activity.
The collective inconvenience to residents and the added costs to the City Of Cape Town budget should merit some kind of immediate action.
