News24 | WATCH | Refuse collection back on track, but water cuts on the way in Joburg

Johannesburg residents can breathe a sigh of relief, for now, after Mayor Dada Morero announced that Pikitup has resumed refuse collection across the city after weeks of missed pickups left rubbish piling up in many suburbs.

The city has faced growing frustration as Pikitup failed to collect garbage in several areas, with some residents waiting as long as three weeks for their refuse to be removed.

Speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday, flanked by Deputy Mayor Loyiso Masuku and MMCs and CEOs of municipal entities, Morero said Pikitup had started addressing the backlog on Tuesday.

“The teams have been doing the backlog, and to ensure that we collect, and once they have cleared the backlog, it means your regular collection will continue unabated. They have confirmed this in our meeting last night, that processes are in place to collect dustbins,” added Morero.

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Morero, however, added that the issue had now been resolved and that “entities have received what is due to them so that normal services can resume”.

“Our contractors have faced challenges due to delayed payments, as the costs associated with diesel and other items naturally affect them…But now we can ease the pressure and pay them, and that is why operations resumed as early as yesterday [Tuesday] throughout the city. So, we will deal with the backlog,” he said.

By Wednesday afternoon, although some areas, including Randburg and Linden, were still waiting for collection, News24 observed a Pikitup truck collecting refuse in Linden.

He announced that on 17 July, most suburbs would experience a 12-hour water interruption due to planned maintenance by Rand Water.

“I want to be honest with residents about one thing in particular: recovery will not be immediate when the maintenance ends at 19:00.”

The areas expected to be affected include Sandton, Midrand, Linksfield, Crown Gardens, South Hills, Parktown, Berea, Yeoville, Brixton, Crosby, Hursthill, Randburg, Roodepoort, Soweto, Lenasia, Alan Manor, Aeroton and Eagles Nest.

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Morero called the media briefing after the National Treasury announced that Johannesburg was among 68 municipalities whose grants had been withheld for failure to meet certain obligations.

Treasury withheld R110 billion, of which Johannesburg’s share amounts to R3.6 billion.

Morero said the City had recently met with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to address concerns raised by Treas