Refuse collection remained uneven across large parts of Randburg this week, despite assurances from Johannesburg’s waste management companyPikitupthat normal operations would resume following a strike by casual workers demanding permanent employment. Waste collection hadeffectively collapsed again over the weekend, leaving some residents without service for more than two weeks, Democratic Alliance ward 99 councillor Hendrik Bodenstein said. “Everything grinded to a halt over the weekend,” he said.
“And residents were up in arms. There are people with 18 days without refuse collection and it is now quite clear thatrefuse collection is an essential service.” According to Bodenstein, the worst-affected suburbs are those closest to Pikitup’s Randburg depot, including Linden Extension, Darrenwood, parts of Blairgowrie, Robindale, Robin Hills, Robin Acres, Malanshof and Ferndale. “Some of these suburbs haven’t been collected at all,” he said.
“On the western side of the highway things are better but within the central ring road it’s been spotty at best.” Pikitup casual workershave been on strike for weeks over delays in their permanent placement. Waste collection resumed briefly last week after intervention by city authorities but stalled again over the weekend as tensions escalated. Bodenstein said residents and workers were now both bearing the cost of the impasse.
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“We’re bringing an urgent request for a debate in the public interest because we need a solution for the workers,” he said. “They’ve been very badly affected. A lot of them can’t afford rent this month and they’ve got nothing to eat, frankly.
It’s a very desperate situation.” At the same time, residents were being forced to pay out of pocket for private refuse collection as health risks mounted. “It is really, really bad and has become dire,” Bodenstein said. “We’ve been given the runaround.
There are reports that trucks might be on the road on Wednesday but seeing is believing — and for how many days? I’m not too optimistic.” On Tuesday,Pikitupmanaging directorBukelwa Njingoloset out the entity’s position in a letter to city manager Floyd Brink and DA Johannesburg caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeonzonjoku, attributing the service disruptions to “protest action by a group of casual workers who prevented Pikitup employees from accessing certain depots”. “Pikitup and the City of Johannesburg fully recognise the importance of uninterrupted waste collection services and the associated public health and environmental implications,” Njingolo wrote.
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