As of election day, Pikitup still had a backlog of at least 121 loads to complete across five depots in Johannesburg.
Pikitup workers collecting rubbish bins. Picture: Nigel Sibanda / The Citizen
Johannesburg’s waste collection entity worked through election day on Wednesday but needs several more days to clear the backlog.
Protesting employees and truck shortages led to weeks of uncollected garbage piling up on street corners across the city.
The city’s largest depots still faced extensive backlogs on Thursday, and Pikitup provided an update on how much longer residents could expect to wait.
“Based on current operational assessments, backlog clearance in these areas is anticipated to take approximately one week.
“This timeline will be closely monitored, as will recovery operations progress, with the focus remaining on restoring collections as quickly and efficiently as possible,” the entity stated.
When do bins go out?
Collection routes had stabilised at the Southdale, Selby, Orange Farm, Zondi and Avalon depots.
However, Pikitup said the Randburg, Roodepoort, Norwood, Marlboro, Waterval and Central Camp depots had the largest backlogs to address.
As of Wednesday morning, Marlboro had 29 loads outstanding covering 18 different routes.
At the Norwood depot, Pikitup said 13 streets still needed servicing, while Waterval had 14 loads to go.
Randburg and Roodepoort had extensive backlogs, with 37 and 28 loads needing to be completed, respectively.
“Residents in these areas are encouraged to place their bins out on their normal scheduled collection days to enable collection teams to service their properties,” Pikitup stated.
Samwu deal
The waste collection delays were partly due to protests by union members seeking assurances on the R10 billion politically facilitated agreement (PFA).
The South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) on Tuesday afternoon signed an addendum to the PFA that satisfied the union’s outstanding grievances.
Samwu Regional Secretary Thobani Nkosi confirmed the union’s support for the addendum, pledging to ensure workers carry out their duties going forward.
“As of now, we definitely know that this PFA is going to be a funded vehicle, and that this particular vehicle will make sure the employees of the city are remunerated properly.
“As employees of the City of Johannesburg, we remain committed that service delivery is pushed in all departments, in all corners of the City of Johannesburg,” said Nkosi.
