This is why Pikitup are slow to collect your bins

Pikitup trucks from the northern areas are needing to drive to the southern parts to dispose of waste due to a lack of landfill space.

Waste collection in Johannesburg is lagging behind, but the municipality has clarified that it is due to available space and not its employees.

Much of March has seen protests and delays in Pikitup refuse removal as the city scrambles to provide one of its basic services.  

The municipality confirmed on Wednesday that it had limited space to dump the mountains of trash created by its residents.

Landfills full

Johannesburg has four large landfill sites servicing 12 depots stretched across roughly 1 600m2 of the city’s footprint.  

Johannesburg’s landfills are reaching capacity, with only two of the four currently accepting residential waste.

“These disruptions are primarily linked to limited landfill availability, with only Goudkoppies and Robinson Deep landfill sites currently fully operational,” the city confirmed on Wednesday.

Forcing all trucks to drive to Soweto and Turffontein to dispose of waste is causing congestion at the sites, resulting in long turnaround times.

The other two landfill sites, Ennerdale and Marie Louise in Randburg, are only accepting small building rubble and soil until their capacities can be increased.

Areas serviced by these depots are currently facing delays:

Central Camp, Selby and Orange Farm are delayed due to “operational challenges

Roodepoort is behind schedule, with Pikitup working extra hours to normalise collection

Midrand, Marlboro, Norwood, and Randburg trucks are depositing their waste at Goudkoppies and Robinson Deep, resulting in incomplete collection rounds and temporary service delays.

Protestors litter streets

Pikitup reiterated that their staff were not on strike, but that protestors had been disrupting services in a demand for jobs.

The Randburg depot was shut last week for at least three days before law enforcement removed protestors to allow for the resumption of services.

Residents from Cosmo City, Honeydew and Zandspruit were responsible for closing the depot and littering the street with uncollected waste.

“Pikitup wishes to clarify that its employees are not responsible for the waste being deliberately scattered in Cosmo City, as currently depicted on various social media platforms originating from the area.

“Pikitup, together with community members and other stakeholders, is conducting a clean-up campaign in Cosmo City following the deliberate scattering of waste by residents,” the city confirmed on Wednesday.

Gauteng full by end of decade

Johannesburg’s landfill crisis has been known for several years, with the Gauteng provincial government stating last May that it would need over R1 billion to optimise its refuse collection and disposal services.

AfriForum stated later that year that Johannesburg’s landfills would reach capacity by early 2028, with Tshwane and Ekurhuleni doing the same near the turn of the decade.

Head of Environmental Affairs at AfriForum, Lambert de Klerk, said at the time that approvals for new landfills had stalled due to licensing delays and that the government had failed to invest in modern waste processing technologies.

“We do not have a landfill problem; we have a management problem. This is a dereliction of duty and a direct threat to the well-being of millions of people,” De Klerk warned.

NOW READ: Gauteng’s waste collection woes: R1 billion needed for landfills, R60 million for fleets

Support Local Journalism
Add The Citizen as a Preferred Source on Google and follow us on Google News to see more of our trusted reporting in Google News and Top Stories.