Contract workers continue to disrupt Pikitup services while the Johannesburg municipality claims it is working on contingency plans.
A city employee collecting litter near Lenasia on 5 August. Picture: X / @CityofJoburgZA
Refuse collection in Johannesburg is becoming a lottery as depots face closure on a daily basis.
The municipality confirmed on Monday that protestors were blocking Pikitup depots across the city, with those protests continuing into Wednesday.
The municipality stated that the disruptions were not striking entity staff, but contract workers wanting to be absorbed into the entity as permanent staff.
Pikitup is not the only entity affected, as Johannesburg Water reportedly faced disruptions at its Newtown office on Tuesday, also caused by casual workers demanding jobs.
Opposition parties have laid the blame on an increasingly crumbling municipal administration, with civil society warning of what could be left behind after the 2026 local government elections.
‘City drowning in rubbish’
The municipality’s earlier statement said it was working on a solution to resolve the protests and restore refuse collection.
“[Pikitup] is actively engaging with the relevant stakeholders and law enforcement agencies, including service providers, to restore normal operations.
“Parallel to that, operational interventions are being implemented to minimise service disruptions and support the recovery of waste collection services,” the city stated.
DA Johannesburg caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku said that “engaging” was not enough.
“Despite years of disruption, the administration has failed to resolve the underlying issues or put effective contingency plans in place.
“The result is a city drowning in rubbish, exposing residents to health risks, damaging the environment, and eroding public confidence in local government,” stated Kayser-Echeozonjoku.
The caucus leader urged Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero and entity management to restore order and provide residents with an honest recovery plan.
She urged Morero to resolve the labour dispute decisively and to not leave the city on autopilot for the final three months of his administration.
“Residents are entitled to ask whether the continued instability within the city’s entities is simply the result of incompetence or whether political interests are allowing Johannesburg to become increasingly ungovernable ahead of the upcoming local government elections,” Kayser-Echeozonjoku concluded.
‘An unacceptable pattern’
ActionSA stated that Johannesburg residents were being held hostage by service delivery disruptions and an inactive government.
“Staff and residents were unable to access the building, while members of the South African Police Service remained on site to maintain order. This is an unacceptable pattern,” said ActionSA’s Mpumi Edward after a visit to Johannesburg Water’s Newton office on Tuesday.
“These ongoing disruptions raise serious questions about the city’s contract management, oversight mechanisms and supply chain governance.
“A municipality cannot continue awarding and managing contracts without ensuring that service providers comply with their contractual obligations, including paying employees on time,” Edward added.
The municipality and the mayor’s office were both contacted for comment on Wednesday, with the latter telling The Citizen Morero was “away on council work” this week.
‘Not going to be an easy ride’
Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) stated that entities’ “lazy” preference for contract workers was leaving the municipality vulnerable to protests.
“The fact that the COJ have outsourced their basic functions to contractors is the first problem. If their contractors do not manage or have pay disputes with their respective employees, this becomes the city’s problem.
“What Pikitup should be doing is reducing their costs by employing their own staff and managing their own fleet of vehicles and doing the refuse collections themselves,” Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage told The Citizen.
Duvenage called for the municipality to remove the refuse charge from residents’ accounts until the issue was resolved, but had a broader warning for the people of Johannesburg.
“The handing over of a dysfunctional city to a new administration in three months’ time is a significant problem for whoever takes over.
“This is the worst shape the city and its finances have ever been, and it’s not going to be an easy ride.
“I guess the current administration doesn’t really care, especially the mayor, because he’s on his way out, regardless of the party that wins.”
