Residents of Ben Avon Ben Eden on Elizabeth Avenue, Sandton are at their wits’ end with Pikitup.
Rubbish overflows from the one skip that is provided by the waste utility for the 153 units, and lies scattered around, which poses a health hazard.
Facilities manager at the estate Kelly Manson said, “A few years ago the body corporate decided that all residents will pay their rates and taxes to the City Council individually and, as such, each unit was provided with a wheelie bin. This idea did not work well as the wheelie bins took up too much space and a decision was made to have three large skips, rather than 153 wheelie bins.”
She added that in the beginning, everything worked well and Pikitup serviced the estate three times a week.
“However, three years ago one of the skips disappeared without any word from Pikitup and then, a few months later the second skip also disappeared.
“The Pikitup strikes last July meant that we were not being serviced at all and a decision was made to use Interwaste, a private skip company, periodically, as tenants were still paying their rates and taxes, but the rubbish problem still persisted.”
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With no solution in sight, Manson decided to visit the head office of Pikitup to get some answers. “I was told that the law had changed and that Pikitup no longer provides skips to estates, which was news to me. I was also informed that every unit needed to provide their account details to Pikitup, which seemed a very laborious task.”
After numerous emails to Pikitup, Manson said they were asked to send the account details of three residents of the estate. “We sent it over and still we wait,” added Manson.
Resident Val Stewart added, “I have lived on this estate for 42 years and it’s an absolute disgrace that we have to put up with this rubbish, its been going on for months. Pikitup does not bring the bins and when they do, they take them away and leave us with only one. It’s such a health hazard, on a hot day the stench and flies are unbearable.”
The Sandton Chronicle contacted the environmental manager of the Department of Health Zano Zuko, who said, “Unfortunately it becomes very difficult for me to comment on something that we have not yet investigated. Depending on the outcome of our investigation, we will engage with our counterparts from Pikitup to get their side of the story.
“I will definitely look into this and make sure something is done to remove the waste and create a solution for them.”
Pikitup spokesperson, Musi Mkhwanazi said, “We have passed this onto our regional manager and will look into this problem immediately.”
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