More than a dozen men and women dressed in overalls and eager to work, sat on the pavement at the Ekurhuleni Waste Management Springs Depot.
This while no less than 10 waste collection trucks sit unused at the parking lot.
“Some of the vehicles have expired licence discs and others have minor mechanical issues but we were told not to use them,” explained an employee of the depot, who spoke to the Advertiser on condition of anonymity.
This while residents complain of waste not being collected according to the metro’s schedule and rubbish piling up all over Springs.
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“The community gets angry with us. They think we are lazy and get paid to sit around but we want to work.
“Every morning we come here hopeful that we will have something to do, but most days we just sit around,” added the employee.
The employees who agreed to speak to the Advertiser said they believed there would be no backlog if the vehicles were in working condition.
In response to a previous enquiry about the waste collection backlog, in February 2020, the City of Ekurhuleni justified hiring the services of private companies.
At the time, Nhlanhla Cebekhulu, divisional head of communications and media relations, said, “The waste management department has identified the need to address the issue of constant shortages of resources.
“A tender was advertised for the hiring of specialised vehicles as and when required. The tender was awarded to various companies in December 2019.”
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The metro also stated the contract will run until June 30, 2022.
“We do not understand how they can hire other companies while we don’t have enough work to keep us busy every day,” said the employee.
“Who is that benefitting?” asked another one of the disgruntled employees.
Comment from the City of Ekurhuleni will be published once received.
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