When it comes to the municipality and its entities, sadly there is always a complaint to be found. Recently, one of the most widespread complaints has been with regard to the waste management entity, Pikitup.
Residents throughout Roodepoort (among other areas) have been complaining about the delay in service delivery from Pikitup. The entity has been struggling to keep to their scheduled collection days, which has caused several problems for its customers.
Residents say they are extremely frustrated with the fact that their bins need to be left out for days at a time while they wait for their rubbish to be collected. This leads to their waste piling up and sometimes they don’t have enough space in their bins for all of the rubbish. This causes problems because the entity does not collect bags that are not in the bin.
Another problem that residents are experiencing is the fact that their bins are being stolen because they are left outside for so long. The question on everyone’s mind is, “What is going on with Pikitup?”
Pikitup spokesperson, Muzi Mkhwanazi, finally provided an explanation for the delays.
He said that the delays were a result of Pikitup’s trucks constantly breaking down.
These breakdowns have reportedly been an ongoing problem for the entity. Mkhwanazi said that the appointment of service providers to repair and maintain the current fleet has been extremely irregular, which has led to the poor performance levels.
Pikitup requires 155 trucks to efficiently collect all the rubbish on time. Unfortunately, 117 of these trucks have passed their life span, and without repairs and regular maintenance they have been breaking down. On average only 60 per cent of their trucks are available for refuse collections because of the breakdowns.
The entity is currently waiting for the new fleet contract to be finalised by City of Johannesburg (CoJ). “It is anticipated that the procurement will be concluded by June,” said Mkhwanazi. Pikitup has also estimated a lead time of 18 months for stock from the preferred supplier to be delivered.
While they are waiting for the contract to be finalised, Pikitup has said that they are doing all they can to ensure that service disruptions are minimal.
