The following remarks were delivered by the Executive Mayor, Cllr Mpho Phalatse, at the unveiling of 41 new Pikitup tipper trucks, which will be used to combat illegal dumping and at times supplement refuse collection operations. The Executive Mayor was joined by the MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Cllr Michael Sun, and the Managing Director of Pikitup, Ms Bukelwa Njingolo, at the Southdale Pikitup Depot.
Programme Director, Ms Charlene Louw
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Cllr
Michael Sun
Ward 51 Councillor, Ms Rashida Landis
MD of Pikitup, Ms Bekewla Njingolo
Acting Region C Director, Mr Earl Jones
City and Entity Officials
Residents of Joburg
Today reaffirms the Joburg Multi-Party Government’s commitment to repairing and
rebuilding this great City on the African continent. Given the political jockeying happening in
Council, it could have easily been a different Executive Mayor and another group of MMCs
standing here.
We do not take the privilege to lead and the responsibility to deliver services to the
residents of the City of Gold for granted. We are here because of the residents, and we
must, therefore dedicate all our efforts, and even accelerate our service delivery
programmes, to ensuring that Joburg looks and feels better.
The fact that the Multi-Party Government still stands strong is not merely because of
numbers in Council, political agreements or withdrawn motions, but it is also because of the
support of residents who we work with and for.
Programme Director,
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,
which is tasked with “keeping our City clean, and preserving an attractive and hygienic
environment for all residents, and visitors alike.”
This new fleet of 41 tipper trucks will add greatly to achieving this while repairing and
rebuilding Joburg.
The tippers, collectively purchased at a cost of R60-million will enable us to meaningfully
combat illegal dumping and littering across the City’s 7 Regions.
To highlight the importance of this fleet and the work it is employed and deployed to do,
there are, at any given time, approximately 3,000 illegal dumpsites in Joburg, costing the
City R80-million per annum to clear, with littering costing the City, R74-million annually.
Working with the Joburg Metro Police Department, Pikitup is now further empowered to
clear illegal dumping sites and enforce by-laws like never before, so that we can call Joburg
a clean and safe City.
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 we come across medical waste that has been illegally
dumped.
The Joburg Multi-Party Government therefore 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.
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
Progrmme, A Re Sebetseng for a cleaner and safer Joburg.
The campaign strives to encourage all of Johannesburg’s residents to take care of the
environment; and it seeks to promote a culture of reducing, re-using, and recycling our
waste to ensure that Joburg becomes one of the cleanest cities in Africa.
In closing, this fleet speaks to and symbolises the Multi-Party Government’s ongoing
commitment to the City and its 6-million residents who all deserve a healthy, clean, and
attractive an environment in which they can live a quality life.
Let’s get to work! Let’s continue with the repair and rebuild of our City.
Ke a leboga. Thank you.