City of Johannesburg political leaders conducted an oversight inspection at the Goudkoppies landfill on Wednesday where several people were shot dead last week.
Police had cordoned sections of the nearby Golden Highway, Johannesburg's major link to its far south suburbs.
The site inspection follows the killing of security guards, four of whom worked for a private security firm and one for the municipality.
Workers at Goudkoppies shared the challenges they were faced with, including being under constant threat from undocumented migrants who conduct illegal business at the landfill.
Goudkoppies operations manager Sabona Maleti said there were many challenges at the city's four landfill sites but Goudkoppies was more problematic.
“We have a huge informal settlement at the back. When I started in 2016, there were about 1,000 shacks but now [there are] 1,500 and extending towards Pimville and Diepkloof.
“There have been a lot of fatal incidents involving compactor vehicles and truly we're very grateful you're here on Thursday and we hope you'd find solutions to improve operations at the site,” he told the delegation.
Infrastructure political head Michael Sun was accompanied by public safety MMC David Tembe, Joburg speaker Vasco da Gama and housing portfolio head Mlungisi Mabaso.
Walking into Goudkoppies, several security guards were armed with shotguns while others carried handguns.
One worker, who did not want to be named, said they did not feel safe.
“I've been working here for over 20 years and the situation gets worse each year. The security do have guns but I don't know what happened on the day.
“Some were shot at the gate while the rest were shot inside. It's clearly someone who knows them and they were the clear targets because nothing was stolen,” he said.
SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) deputy regional secretary Thobani Nkosi said safety was an issue.
Nkosi demanded the Goudkoppies landfill site be shut down from Wednesday onwards.
“We need armed guards in this place. We're all aware [about] Basotho illegal nationals [from Lesotho] have occupied all vacant spaces throughout the city. This land is owned by city and we can't allow shacks to be built here. If the city did its job, the surrounding community would not be worried,” Nkosi said.
“The first thing we need to do is to demolish these illegal structures. Illegal mining is taking place and the very same foreign nationals are charging trucks to dump here.
“The city has been irresponsible, irrespective of whatever error. Security guards are scared, they have said so but do not want to go unpaid.”
Sun said what happened at Goudkoppies was unacceptable. Noting no solution would be found by Tuesday, he said the city was taking stock of the issues faced by its workers.
“We're here to see with our own eyes and ask questions with our own lips. Criminals shoot and kill as if this is a criminal paradise. That will no longer be the case. We're here to resolve the problem,” he said.
Speaking to the workers at Goudkoppies, Tembe said losing one's colleagues is a traumatic experience.
“As the city we must accept there must have been something we didn't do right. Let's accept it and ensure we do something. I am going to assign an acting director to assess and tell us what we can do and we'll implement.
“If it means we need metro police or SAPS patrolling here then we'll do it,” Tembe said.
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