The alarm has been raised about toxic smoke spewing from a mismanaged waste site at Bluewater Bay, where residents allege fires are being set almost daily by copper thieves -- threatening residents' wellbeing and the local environment.

What was meant to be a waste transfer site to prevent illegal dumping in Bluewater Bay, near Gqeberha, has turned into a nightmare for residents as the uncontrolled and unfenced site has become a haven for local criminals.

Fires are set almost daily at the Tipper's Creek site, likely by copper thieves, filling the neighbourhood with smoke and posing a threat to the nearby Aloes Nature Reserve.

Nolan Mathura, chairperson of the community police forum in Swartkops: "We absolutely have to step in and fix this right now.

"Accountability measures have to follow what is happening here."

Illegal dwellings

"Last year, we got a drone in, and we checked the surrounding area. We found six illegal dwellings, including quite a big one, and there were a lot of cables and steel. We believe they were making the fires to get the plastic off the copper," Mathura said.

"From a crime point of view, we have a good infrastructure in terms of CCTV and the members of the neighbourhood watch, but we lose criminals when crimes are reported. We are now under the impression that they come in here [the waste site]," he said.

"This is a major issue for us....