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the Multi-Party Government still stands strong is not merely because of numbers in Council, political agreements or withdrawn motions, but it is also because of the support of residents who we work with and for.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.
ENDS….
For media queries, please contact:
Mabine Seabe
Director: Mayoral Communication
Private Office of the Executive Mayor
084 677 7851
Nickolaus Bauer
Deputy Director: Communication and Stakeholder Management
Office of the MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services
072 397 2269
25/11/2022
