Work stoppage: Rubbish piling up in Randburg as Pikitup workers
protest, demanding permanent employment from the City of
Johannesburg. Photo: X Yamkeleka Manjeya
After a fortnight of uncollected refuse, residents of Randburg in the north of Johannesburg, finally saw waste collection services restart, after casual workers reached an agreement to reopen the Pikitup depot following discussions with management.
Operations at the depot had been fully halted for seven days as protesting casual employees went on strike, insisting on permanent contracts they maintained were promised to them in 2023. The workers also raised concerns about alleged nepotism in the company’s recruitment practices.
The work stoppage saw the Pikitup Randburg depot gates blocked with piles of refuse, while rubbish accumulated across multiple suburbs, creating what residents described as a growing health hazard.
A breakthrough was reportedly reached when workers agreed to allow trucks to leave the depot after management committed to convening a board meeting on Thursday and to provide formal feedback to workers on Friday, as reported by The Citizen on Thursday.
Earlier in the week, Pikitup chief operating officer Meyrick Ramatlo rejected the workers’ allegations of nepotism, saying such claims were being investigated by the City of Johannesburg.
“We have encouraged them to report these matters. [The] City of Johannesburg’s forensic department is currently investigating those allegations,” Ramatlo said on public broadcaster SABC.
“We are awaiting that outcome. The law allows employees to report these matters — they should report any suspicions of nepotism or irregular processes that occur.”
Pikitup referred the Mail & Guardian to the City of Johannesburg for comment. The city had not responded by the time of publication.
Ward 99 Democratic Alliance councillor Hendrik Bodenstein said refuse had not been collected in many areas for close to two weeks, despite the official shutdown lasting seven days.
“They skipped a week, so for many residents the last time trash was collected was two weeks ago,” he said, adding that a recovery plan was now under way, with collections resuming in phases according to the Randburg depot’s usual routes.
“They started with areas serviced on Wednesdays, then they’ll move to Thursday routes and Friday routes. They will probably work throughout the weekend to catch up,” Bodenstein said.
He described the dispute as “confusing”, with workers and management offering conflicting explanations.
“It’s a bizarre situation where the workers say one thing and management says another and you don’t quite know what the root cause is,” he said.
“Apparently about 300 workers were promised permanent employment, but instead people with political connections were appointed. The workers say they know who these people are.”
Bodenstein said sustained pressure from councillors and media attention helped force a resolution.
“We were given a runaround for a week. [Ward 98] councillor Beverley Jacobs and I said enough is enough. We got hold of the SABC and then we asked Helen Zille to come along as well to see if that awakened them because they have not responded to any of our messages.
“Bizarrely, as soon as Helen showed up, everyone was just flocking to her and she assisted with the negotiations and then things got sorted.
“We got the message last night [on Wednesday] that they’re restarting rounds and when I left there [the depot] at 2.30pm on Wednesday, there was still this big pile of rubbish in front of the gate,” he said, adding that it had since been cleared. “And the trucks could go out this morning. Clearly, Helen Zille has the magic touch…”
The disruption affected Randburg in its entirety, he noted. “You should see what the CBD looks like — it’s terrible,” Bodenstein said. “The Randburg CBD is the lifeblood of this part of town. We’ve got massive businesses in this area and they all rely on reliable services.
“People tend to think that refuse collection is not an essential service, until it really hits you then you realise that really is an essential service.
“In parts of Blairgowrie, we have small houses with lots of young families. Nappies were sitting in the sun for two weeks. It’s not a great smell.”
He added that councillors would return to the depot on Friday morning to ensure services were fully restored.