Tshwane R2.3m waste removal row ends up in court

A private waste removal company in Pretoria will be allowed to continue using Tshwane’s municipal dumping sites despite a pending legal battle about an outstanding bill of almost R2 million.

The Global Waste Group took the Tshwane municipality to court late last year after seven of its trucks were turned away at the Hetherley’s dumping site in Mamelodi and told it would not regain access until the company’s outstanding bill of more than R2.3 million had been paid in full.

The company’s legal dispute about R1.9 million of that amount will only proceed in the High Court in Pretoria in April next year.

Global sought an urgent court order to force the city to provide it with a new account number and detailed accounts and to allow it access to the dumping sites pending the outcome of their court application.

Global director Jacques van Niekerk said in court papers the waste of about 12 000 wheelie bins they serviced every week had been piling up since its trucks were refused access to the dumping sites and the company would be forced to close its doors if the situation continued.

He said Global lowered the city’s burden to remove solid waste in some areas and the municipality did not have the means to cope with the extra bins.

The dispute arose when Global changed its name and consolidated two accounts into one account, but claimed the municipality had transferred substantial incorrect amounts to its operations account and failed to deduct payments that were made.

It declared a dispute and issued summons against the municipality, following which the city suspended its account and told it to apply for a new account.

Global was allowed to continue using the municipal dump sites while waiting for the new account to be opened, but this was never done, despite numerous requests, and it had been unable to pay its account since January last year.

The company and the city eventually reached a settlement when Global undertook to pay the city R415 000 for its account between January and November last year and the city undertook to furnish invoices and statements.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.