Pikitup’s new start to get things right
DA's reign saw the removal of the scandalous MD and aims for better results.
FOLLOWING the Democratic Alliance’s Johannesburg Municipality take-over, newly elected mayor, Herman Mashaba, reviewed the city’s waste collection entity and subsequently Amanda Nair was removed from her position as managing director.
Pikitup over the years was rocked by scandal, from accusations of corruption and tender handover irregularities to workers’s strikes which saw the company’s workers throw waste from recycle bins in the city’s CBD. The strikes often turned violent.
While the COURIER is still investigating whether there will be an acting managing director, Mayor Mashaba made it clear that Pikitup had problems during his inaugural speech, which he initially could not deliver the night the DA won the municipality out of respect for the ANC councillor who had collapsed and died at the city hall.
“With last week’s removal of the MD of Pikitup, the focus now turns to stabilising and strengthening this entity so as to ensure that it fulfils its mandate of keeping our city a clean and healthy environment for all. The normal 135 weekly refuse collection rounds have been restored at all 12 depots as well as street sweeping and litter picking around our city. The priority must now be to make Pikitup a city entity that makes our streets and communities clean again,” said Mashaba.
According to Mashaba, there is a massive backlog in clearing waste at the 2 080 illegal dumping sites spread in the city but in conjunction with JMPD, legal steps will be taken to put the messiness to rest.
CoJ communications officer, Nkosinathi Nkabinde, informed the media that ongoing refuse removal in dense areas including informal settlements will be stepped up with 35 co-operatives and 1 498 community members under the Jozi@work programme, supported by a door-to-door education and awareness campaign under the EPWP programme with 1 450 people employed.
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