Joburg residents face trash pileup amid Samwu protest

Johannesburg has been plunged into a service delivery crisis as waste remains uncollected for days due to municipal workers protesting over “unfulfilled wage agreements”.

Rubbish has been piling up in northern, western and southern areas as the city’s waste collection entity Pikitup faces a massive backlog with fewer workers available. Pikitup has pleaded for patience but could not say when all the rubbish would be collected.

The strike has also impacted other entities including Joburg Water, as some of its workers are Samwu members. The union members have been carrying out protests in the Johannesburg CBD since Monday. The protests stem from an unfulfilled wage and benefits agreement known as the Politically Facilitated Agreement (PFA), which Samwu entered into with the city in 2016.

Pikitup spokesperson Anthony Selepe put the blame on Samwu for disrupting services and could not confirm when services would return to normal.

“Our employees have been part of the Samwu protest, and it has been impacting us … We have minimal capacity on the road and are working on measures to deal with the backlog.”

Selepe said it would be hard to predict when services would be back in full swing.

“The problem is not with Pikitup but the city. Once it [the strike] gets resolved, the better for us, but if it prolongs it means we must make do and deal with the service problem. All city entities are affected; only Pikitup will be immediately visible,” said Selepe.

On Wednesday, a Sowetan team visited Emmarentia, Florida, Roodepoort, Roosevelt Park, Randburg, Olivedale and Fourways, where it witnessed piles of garbage in unemptied bins stacked outside residences and shopping centres.

Most of the waste was meant to be collected between Monday and Wednesday and had developed a stench and was attracting flies.

“Because of the current heatwave, the smell from the bins has become really strong,” said a Fourways resident whose waste was supposed to have been collected on Monday.

A Florida resident said they were not notified about the service interruption.

“We realised on Tuesday, which is our normal collection day, our bins were still not emptied. The assumption was that Pikitup employees might be disgruntled again, as it’s always blamed on them when our rubbish is not collected.”

In Roodepoort, residents were notified of the disruption on Monday. “Pikitup wishes to inform residents serviced by the Roodepoort depot of a three-day waste collection backlog resulting from operational challenges including fleet breakdowns and the increased distance required to transport waste to the outlying landfill site.

“The situation is expected to be compounded by the Samwu meeting, resulting in a suspension of services across the city and its entities.”

Lee Young of the Parktown North Residents Association said some waste was collected, but a large part of the area was still unserviced.

He said some areas like Sandown have not had water due to challenges at Joburg Water. “The supply from a reservoir is not enough to reach residents,” said Young.

Johannesburg Water, in a statement on Wednesday, claimed the Samwu protest was affecting operations and causing delays in service delivery.

“While the entity remains committed to maintaining essential services, customers will experience delays in the resolution of service requests and other service delivery matters during this period.

“Johannesburg Water apologises for any inconvenience caused and appreciates customers’ patience and understanding as the entity works to minimise disruptions.”

Samwu, however, said the protest was only on Monday and that their members resumed duties on Tuesday, while shop stewards and leadership attended the case of 16 of their members who were arrested for violence during the protest.

“I think it would be an exaggeration and it’s not true to say services of the city have been disrupted because of the protest,” said Richard Moila, Samwu’s deputy regional secretary.

“Our members are at work, while management and the leadership are the ones in negotiation talks with the city and have accompanied in court some who were arrested from the protest. All of those entities were functional and have never been affected, as there were no interruptions,” he added.