WATCH: New Pikitup tipper trucks, tools to support the repair and rebuild of Joburg

The Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Mpho Phalatse, and MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Michael Sun, unveiled 41 new Pikitup tipper trucks at the Southdale Pikitup Depot on November 25.

As part of pursuing the multi-party government’s number one mayoral priority of ‘A city that gets the basics right’, the 41 new tipper trucks will be deployed to deal with the scourge of illegal dumping.

It will also proactively supplement refuse services, as needed by Pikitup, to fulfil its mandate to keep the city clean and preserve an attractive and hygienic environment for residents and visitors.

Pikitup spent R80 to R100m a year on illegal dumping was revealed by its managing director, Bukelwa Njingolo.

“These tipper trucks were procured in the last financial year. Illegal dumping has become a norm. We need to love ourselves. We cannot spend so much on illegal dumping. It was necessary to have these new trucks as the old ones are as good as carcasses. We spent over R10m for maintenance and repairs,” she said.

Acting COO Nompumelelo Mthethwa appreciated the assistance from the mayor. “We have over 3 364 illegal dumping spots in the city.

We are motivated by the support. We need 84 trucks and with these, we are halfway there. It is great that we met with JMPD who gave us 60 officers whom we will work with, especially around the 312 informal settlements where there is a lot of illegal dumping. We try to formalize it by giving them skip bins, however, they are not enough,” she said.

Pikitup has challenges in Region F and regional manager, Selina Tshabalala mentioned there is non-compliance when discarding rubble.

“The occupation of houses illegally by foreign nationals who are not respecting laws, the untraceable owners of residential properties especially in Rosettenville, Turffontein and La Rochelle, properties with backyard dwellers who have one bin are some of the challenges,” she said.

Mayor Phalatse said the highest law in the land, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, calls upon local government authorities, like the City of Johannesburg, “to promote a safe and healthy environment.”

This is in line with the work that the city’s integrated waste management entity, Pikitup, is tasked with “keeping our city clean and preserving an attractive and hygienic environment for residents and visitors.”

“The tippers, collectively purchased for R60m will enable us to meaningfully combat illegal dumping and littering across the city’s seven regions. Despite the city’s acquisition of this fleet and the resources poured into this work, Pikitup cannot do this work on its own. Combatting illegal dumping and littering requires communities to be the eyes and ears of the city.

“These illegal dumping sites often happen in the open and often with the ‘blessing’ of people who want to make a quick buck by offering plots of state- and privately-owned land for illegal dumping – at a cost.

Residents see this happening in their communities and bear the environmental consequences of this illicit act, which is not just the dumping of construction or garden waste, but too often medical waste that has been illegally dumped.

“Only when we join efforts, as the city and residents, can we truly begin to see and feel a better city that we can all be proud of. This is also the drive behind the flagship mayoral programme, A Re Sebetseng, for a cleaner and safer Joburg,” she said.

The Joburg multi-party government calls upon residents to join the fight against illegal dumping and littering by only disposing of waste at the city’s designated sites and to report acts of illegal dumping by calling Pikitup on 011 688 1500 or emailing illegaldumping@pikitup.co.za