Waste removal to continue during the festive season

The City of Ekurhuleni assures residents that waste removal services will continue as usual during the festive season except on Christmas Day, 25 December.

All areas to be serviced on Christmas Day will receive refuse removal on the same day the following week, as per the waste removal calendar.

“This is the only disruption during the festive season. On all the other days including New Year’s Day, waste removal services will continue as usual,” explains city spokesperson Zweli Dlamini. He encourages the community to take out their bins as usual during the holidays.

Meanwhile, Dlamini warned the public against giving Christmas boxes to municipal workers during this time of the year, as this is against council policy and affects service delivery.

This practice is prevalent during the festive season, as some residents tend to give small gifts of gratitude to municipal workers.

“This may be an act of kindness, but we had incidents where residents have reported abuse at the hands of workers for not giving them gifts.

“This practice is also a major distraction to the workers and affects the turnaround time to service delivery issues, especially in the waste removal services sector. A truck can be delayed because workers solicit Christmas boxes and, therefore, cannot finish their rounds on the day,” expands Dlamini.

He discouraged municipal officials from’soliciting’ any festive gifts from members of the public.

“We pay our staff for performing their duties and therefore, the public does not owe them anything.”

For anyone experiencing waste removal interruptions, Dlamini encouraged them to escalate these to the city via the call centre at 0860 54 3000.