Don’t put your bins out! eThekwini protest leaves depots blocked, trash on the streets

A refuse crisis looms in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), after a protest left streets dirty and pavements filled with full bins.

On Wednesday, the municipality confirmed that waste collection and street sweeping had stopped.

It said former Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) participants had resorted to block gates at different depots amid a dispute over the termination of contracts.

Intimidation of workers

Protesters reportedly intimidated staff and refused collection contractors from collecting the the refuse.

“This has made it impossible for normal collection of refuse to take place.

“Several areas have been affected by this disruption. Security personnel have been alerted of the situation at hand,” the municipality said.

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Councillor Samantha Windvogel told The Citizen discussions were still ongoing with the former workers to find a resolution.

“As of right now, there is no resolution but we have been told they are working on restoring services as soon as possible.”

Don’t put out your refuse bin

She urged residents not to put their bins out for collection until further notice.

“Until the matter has been resolved, residents must keep their bins inside their property,” Windvogel added.

Protest dirties Joburg streets

Striking casual Pikitup workers shut down depots and littered the streets of Johannesburg in May over a dispute with appointments.

“We applied for these jobs but none of us were shortlisted. We demand to know what the criteria for shortlisting is,” said a Pikitup contract worker.

ALSO READ: Watch: Pikitup workers collect rubbish under guard as ‘some arrests’ are made

The workers claimed they had taken the contract jobs in the hope that one day they would be permanent.

“We have families. We want those jobs! We are tired of the bribes at Pilkitup,” said another worker.

Refuse collection under guard

Among the other allegations made by protesters were that officials at the refuse agency were selling jobs for R5 000 per position. Pikitup did not respond to this claim directly when reached for comment.

ALSO READ: ‘We work unpaid overtime to keep our jobs’ – Pikitup employees

The two-week-long protest left the city in a mess and led to claims of political sabotage.

Several arrests were made, as workers began cleaning operations guarded by security officials.