Night raid targets illegal dumping, exposes exploitation and PPE failures
Officials were displeased by the lack of PPE service providers issued to their workers, and vagrants living in dangerous encampments near flood lines.
Tshwane Mayor, Dr Nasiphi Moya and members of the Mayoral Committee recently took to the Marabastad and inner-city streets at night to address illegal dumping sites and by-law compliance.
Moya said that despite the work her officials and she have been conducting since the current administration first came into power, community participation is crucial in ensuring change is sustainable.
“We understand that our CBD has become cleaner over the months. However, we are not satisfied until we reach that level where our CBD is sparklingly clean.
“There’s a time that works at night, and we just needed to make sure we are deploying our resources effectively.”
Moya said that Marabastad is a very important area for them to activate the informal trading and township economy. “For us to sweat this sector, [we] need to make sure there is order, that it’s clean, and we understand what is happening,” Moya said.
She said the metro wants to build its internal capacity and is integral to cleaning the city, both physically and metaphorically.
“We understand that there are short-circuiting instances by our service providers in doing the work and in capacitating the people that they employ. What we have seen here is just exploitation of labour. There is not enough personal protective equipment (PPE).”
MMC for Roads and Transport Tlangi Mogale reiterated the lack of PPE concerns that the mayor expressed, saying that the mountain of work requires workers to be well-equipped.
“Our other cleaning teams in Marabastad are cleaning and clearing garbage from the day’s trading.”
Mogale said the committee was unhappy with the lack of proper PPE.
“Totally unacceptable, and we told the team leaders to fix this immediately with the contractor. This city will never tolerate exploitation of any form towards its workers,” Mogale said.
MMC for Health Tshegofatso Mashabela said during one of the dumping site clean-ups in Marabastad, it became abundantly clear that residents are engaging in dangerous practices to find shelter.
“Sleeping under a bridge during a season of flooding is life-threatening. We must work with relevant departments to ensure safer alternatives,” Mashabela said.
She said that the majority of the people they encountered living near the dumping sites also sell at the market as informal traders.
The MMC said that after engaging with them, they will go back to ensure they try to provide alternative accommodation, as the area they occupied is at risk of flooding.
Environment and Agricultural MMC, Obakeng Ramabodu, said they invited the mayor and committee on the night drive so they could appreciate first-hand the work being done.
“The hawkers of Marabastad illegally dump their waste, and every night we clear here. We’ve engaged with the city to see how we can make this area a drop-off point for waste. It must have skip bins, so waste can be collected daily and the area remains clean,” Ramabodu said.
He added that the residents can be assured that the formalisation of hawkers in Marabastad will become a reality, as the metro has plans to erect formal stalls for traders in the area.
He said they aim to accommodate traders from across the metro who wish to trade in Marabastad legally and formally.
Ward 58 Councillor Conride Ngoveni expressed his appreciation for the stakeholders’ visit.
“This is a good initiative because Marabastad has been neglected for far too long, and there is a lot of work to be done here. At least when we leave, this place will be clean, but we’ll keep at it until we get it right,” Ngoveni said.
Watch here: https://x.com/i/status/1991263111395893696.
Our people 💔 #MarabastadNightShiftOperation . pic.twitter.com/xUIoS4aN6f
— Obakeng COT MMC Environment Agriculture . (@RamaboduObakeng) November 19, 2025
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