Court interdict to prevent refuse bins from overflowing
Pikitup temporarily suspends waste removal services owing to strike action.
Johannesburg waste removal agency Pikitup has announced that the collection of refuse bins from households and businesses in the City has been temporarily suspended.
This comes after workers intensified their strike action this week.
Pickitup employees who are members of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) embarked on a strike action protesting against alleged corruption involving Pikitup’s managing director Amanda Nair early this week.
They are calling for Nair to step down and that issues involving their pay be resolved immediately. The illegal strike by Samwu members has been most detrimental to residents and businesses within the City of Joburg.
Residents were forced to seek alternative methods of disposing their refuse after it was not collected. Pikitup obtained a court interdict in a bid to force workers to end the illegal strike on Wednesday.
“We have obtained an interim court order barring Samwu and all its members from participating in an unprotected and unlawful strike action.
“The court order further instructs all workers to report to their respective workstations with immediate effect, to continue to render their services as per their contract of employment,” said Pikitup spokesperson Jacky Mashapu.
In Orlando East people have started dumping their waste in front of the Pikitup offices while in some yards bins are overflowing with waste. Pikitup has apologised to residents for the inconvenience caused by the industrial action.
