Pikitup to Announce More Waste Picking Jobs Following Protests

After protests rocked the city this week, the City of Johannesburg and Pikitup management have announced they will advertise additional job opportunities to create more waste-picking jobs. According to IOL, City leaders updated the public on their plans to address the waste backlog caused by temporary and volunteer workers who protested for permanent employment with Pikitup.

Joburg city manager Floyd Brink and Pikitup managing director Bukelwa Njingolo said they were responding to the demands of waste-picking temporary workers and volunteers at the Pikitup Randburg Depot, who took to the streets to protest against corruption and nepotism within the waste management company.

Njingolo stated that Pikitup will conduct a continuous recruitment campaign using a phased approach. This decision follows the recent appointment of 300 workers, advertised last December and finalised last week, which triggered the protests. She said the next recruitment phase would begin in the coming weeks and conclude by June.

“We will consider employing the protesting temporary workers, but also provide an opportunity for unemployed community members to apply,” Njingolo explained. “We believe that we should consider those in partnership with Pikitup, including casual workers, but we will not specifically target casual workers as we have many groups we work with, including about 3,000 Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers on the ground.”

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Njingolo mentioned that Pikitup has a database of 101 cooperatives under which 300 EPWP workers have been appointed. She clarified that these cooperatives are not directly contracted with the waste management company. She assured that Pikitup would take into account the concerns of the protesting casual workers.

Enos Maake, who led the protest at the Pikitup Randburg Depot, welcomed the measures taken. “They told us they are investigating the posts and how they were employed. We are waiting for communication on which unit we should submit our evidence of nepotism to,” he told IOL News. Maake expressed optimism about the upcoming recruitment drive and hopes for the casual and volunteer workers to be hired.

The protests disrupted services as demonstrators blocked workers and trucks, leading to a trash pile-up. Njingolo outlined measures to address the backlog in affected areas, stating that Pikitup is committed to immediate cleanup actions. Pikitup has engaged with service providers to supply additional trucks to help clear the backlog.

“We requested an additional fleet because we have a huge backlog. Normally, we have about 351 vehicles, including compactors, tipper trucks, bobcats, and tractor-loader-backhoes (TLBs),” Njingolo told the media. She also confirmed that five people were arrested during the protest and that work will resume in depots such as Inner City, Marlboro, Midrand, Norwood, and Roodepoort to clean up the accumulated waste.

Also read:

Pikitup Considers New Waste Collection Methods Amid Ongoing Worker Strikes

Picture: X / _ArriveAlive

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