Pikitup urges residents to assist it and the City at large by reporting dustbin theft or any suspicious activities directly to the City’s Anti-Corruption Hotline.
This comes after the recent arrest of two suspects for stealing Pikitup skip bins worth over R200 000. According to Pikitup spokesperson, Muzi Mkhwanazi, the City of Johannesburg’s waste management entity managed to facilitate the arrest of two suspects who were charged with theft after stealing four skip bins.
Following the arrest of the second suspect, 10 additional skip bins were discovered in his yard. The 14 skip bins that have been found are worth over R200 000.
A Pikitup employee managed to stop the theft of these skip bins in the Johannesburg CBD by intercepting a truck that was loading them.
The employee asked why the truck was loading Pikitup’s skip bins since only trucks belonging to Pikitup are permitted to load them. According to the employee, the driver of the truck informed him that he was given permission by Pikitup to collect the skip bins for disposal purposes.
The letter of authority that the truck driver produced was written on a fake Pikitup letterhead and the contact details used in the letter were not those of the waste management company. The fake letter also stated that an employee of Pikitup had authorised the disposal of the skip bins. However, they were found to have used a Pikitup employee’s details fraudulently.
“I welcome the arrests and thank the Pikitup employee for safeguarding company property. Ultimately, this is the property of all who live in Johannesburg, and we all need to ensure that it does not end up in the wrong hands,” said Mkhwanazi.
The City will continue to work towards ensuring the safekeeping of its infrastructure in order to deliver quality services to the residents.
In conclusion, he said, “I urge residents to assist Pikitup and the City at large by reporting any suspicious activities to the City’s Anti-Corruption Hotline on 0800 002 587. Residents are also encouraged to use the Anti-illegal Dumping WhatsApp Hotline to report illegal dumpers. Residents are advised to take clear photos of the illegal dumping as well as the number plate of the vehicle, then send these pictures together with the date, time and location of the illegal dumping to 082 779 1361.”
