Johannesburg - The city of Joburg will not intervene in the Pikitup strike.
This was the message this morning from city spokesman Nthatisi Modingoane who said the 10-day wildcat strike was a matter between Pikitup and its employees.
“We cannot get involved in their internal matters,” he said.
Many Joburg residents are questioning why the city has not intervened as the rubbish is piling up and starting to become a health hazard.
Four Red Ants clean-up workers were shot on Monday in an incident apparently linked to the strike. Police and strikers have clashed during protests outside the Pikitup head office in Braamfontein and rubbish trucks have been stoned.
There does not appear to be any end to the strike in the near future with both parties refusing to back down. Pikitup says it will only start talks once the workers return to work, while the unions say they will continue striking until winning their demands. The unions want Pikitup MD Amanda Nair to be removed and workers' salaries to be increased.
There is some cleaning being done in the inner city by the Red Ants who have two teams of 250 people cleaning different areas. They work from 3pm to 3am, but many parts are still filthy.
Chief executive of the Red Ants, Johan Bosch, said it was a massive task, which was why it was taking so long.
“The problem is that the plastic bags have been broken and we are having to rake the rubbish up, bit by bit. There is a huge backlog,” he said.
Bosch said the teams were continuing despite the shooting of four of his members, but security around the teams had been stepped up.
There are conflicting views of what happened. Bosch said his members were shot at and the shooter had been handed over to the police. The police, however, on Wednesday said it was a member of the Red Ants who grabbed a gun from his own security team and started shooting randomly.
“We are investigating this further and will be demanding to know where the suspect is that we arrested. What the police are saying is not true and we will take legal action against them once we have found where the suspect is,” said Bosch.
In the meantime, the festering mounds of trash are becoming a health hazard. At the beginning of the week, the squalid stench only carried on the air after the sun rose enough to warm the piles. Now the CBD oozes the odour even at night.
Taxis hooting their way through this morning's traffic in Bree Street pulverised the reeking trash under their wheels. Bins overflowed along the street in front of the Johannesburg High Court and flies swarmed the trash piles. Hawkers set up their tables less than a metre from the rubbish.
“It’s killing us so badly. It’s affecting our lungs. We can’t even eat here,” said Thabang Mokoena, an employee at hair salon Studio 88.
“The garbage on the streets of Joburg CBD makes the entire place smell like an egg salad threw up on a d*** fart! This Pikitup strike tho!” tweeted Harbour (@vilakazi_pearl).
Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said while the trash wasn't affecting JMPD’s ability to work, “from a health perspective, I think it’s a concern”.
@bgirledukate
The Star