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Refuse collectors have ended their three-week long strike, and operations are expected to back to normal soon.
THE three-week strike by Pikitup refuse collectors that left many parts of the city in a chaotic state, has ended.

According to the City’s spokesperson, Gabu Tugwana, “proposals were signed and sealed this morning at 2.45am after 17 hours of negotiations”.

Pikitup workers went on strike on 7 April after a go-slow, demanding an investigation into allegations of corruption, nepotism and irregular tenders.

The City made an application at the Labour Court to have the strike declared illegal but was unsuccessful.

Pikitup’s managing director, Zami Nkosi; the chairperson, Phumula Radebe; and other board members resigned during the strike.

"We are confident that our residents and businesses will already see a significant improvement by Monday [25 April] – and that they will experience normal services soon afterwards," says Lawrence Boya, acting Managing Director of Pikitup.

"We want to thank the people of Johannesburg for their patience during the strike and give the assurance that we are working around the clock to clear the backlog," he says.

Pikitup workers will be working through the long Easter weekend to clear the backlog. Workers will concentrate on clearing areas where illegal dumping took place, according to Pikitup communications manager Pansy Oyedele.
 
"We encourage residents whose refuse is collected on a Friday and Monday to take their bins out as early as 7am," says Oyedele.

"If these bins have still not been emptied by 5pm, residents should not take them back into the yards. The teams will work additional hours to clear the bins and pick up extra bags on the sides of the bins," she says.

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