In an effort to shore up service delivery, the City of Johannesburg is injecting R80 million towards the upgrading of the Central Camp Pikitup Depot in Diepkloof, Soweto.
Speaking at the sod-turning ceremony yesterday, 26 August 2019, the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Herman Mashaba said the upgrades and renovations will restore employee dignity and increase productivity levels.
Mayor Mashaba decried the deplorable structural conditions of the depot, saying the prevailing conditions affected the dignity and the moral of employees who are tasked with making sure that the area they serviced was clean.
“I would also like to encourage our residents to look after the skip bins. These big bins that are being distributed throughout townships in the City will help residents to correctly dispose of their rubbish. Cleanliness starts with you,” said the mayor after officials sang him a birthday song for his 60th birthday.
“Apart from the concerns for our employees, this depot was established many years ago and has not been refurbished over time to align it with the increase of people and households in the area. There’s no way you will stop a project in Johannesburg under my leadership. I will not allow any criminality. Not under my watch will any project for the people of Johannesburg be stopped,” said Mayor Mashaba.
The upgrades to the depot will cost R80 million, take 24 months to complete and will entail the following:
• Demolishing and removal of the existing asbestos office building;
• Construction of new offices;
• Construction of new male and female ablution facilities;
• Construction of a new waste and sewer reticulation;
• Construction of a 450 seater hall;
• Construction of a medical centre;
• Refurbishment of existing storerooms and washing bays;
• Re-alignment of the entrance and the construction of a new guard house;
• Construction of a new heavy duty parking areas; and
• Electrical capacity upgrade
Speaking at the same ceremony, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment Infrastructure Services Cllr Nico de Jager said the only way the City was going to tackle the R170 billion infrastructure backlog problems was through investing in such projects.
Pikitup Acting MD Mr Christopher Dyani committed to holding those accountable for the project to the set timelines.
