Some Joburg residents will have to wait as rubbish is not collected

Residents in Johannesburg have expressed frustration about poor service delivery after more than a week has passed without their rubbish being collected.

Randburg, Fourways and Douglasdale are among the areas where refuse has not been collected for more than a week, with many residents saying they are unsure what caused the delays.

The disruptions come after Pikitup workers embarked on protests, with some seasonal employees demanding permanent jobs within the entity.

Randburg business owner Tumi Morris said refuse had not been collected since the previous Monday.

“They normally come on Mondays in the afternoon, but for the past two Mondays they haven’t come. I didn’t really know what the problem was. I didn’t even know there was an issue,” he said.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve experienced disruptions. Normally, if they don’t collect on Monday, they come back later in the week.”

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Morris said the delays were affecting his business.

“When clients come to get their hair cut, the smell can become unbearable because some of the rubbish is rotting,” he said.

He added that a neighbouring area, about 10 minutes away, had similar problems.

In Douglasdale, resident Abigail du Toit said Pikitup failed to collect refuse on Tuesday as scheduled.

“The only problem is the inconsistency. If they don’t come on Tuesday, they usually come on Wednesday or Thursday. It eventually gets collected.

“They did collect last Tuesday, but not this week. I wouldn’t say it’s alarming because the rubbish isn’t piling up on the side of the road, but it is frustrating,” she said.

A gardener at an estate in Douglasdale said management had been forced to hire a private refuse removal company after the delays continued.

“Usually the rubbish is collected on Thursdays, but they didn’t collect last week and we haven’t seen them today either. They don’t usually have problems collecting. This is the first time they’ve missed collections,” he said.

“The estate eventually hired a private truck to collect the rubbish so residents could get their bins back because we didn’t know how much longer we would have to wait.”

A security officer at Cedar Lofts in Fourways, said the estate experienced similar disruptions during a previous protest.

“They didn’t collect last Thursday, and we still haven’t seen them today. Last time the estate hired a private truck to collect the rubbish. I’m not sure if they’ll do the same this time,” he said.

“If they don’t collect by the end of the week, they’ll probably have to hire another truck.”

The complaints come after Joburg Mayor Dada Morero said the collection delays were caused by payment delays to contractors, which affected Pikitup’s operations.

Morero said refuse collection services resumed on Wednesday and he assured residents that the backlog would be cleared by the end of the week.

In Bryanston, Sowetan observed a Pikitup truck collecting refuse and emptying bins that had been left for more than a week.

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Sowetan