Johannesburg - The EFF in Gauteng has condemned the “reactionary behaviour” of Pikitup in relation to the party’s Andries Tatane Clean-up Campaign.
This comes after Pikitup has, over the years, failed to provide services and keep communities clean, especially in the Johannesburg area, the EFF said.
According to the party’s provincial chairperson Nkululeko Dunga, the townships of Johannesburg have been subjected to “filthy living conditions, with illegal dumping sites mushrooming in almost every corner due to the lack of refuse-collection services and reliable systems in place to keep them clean”.
He said: “Instead of providing the services that it is mandated to do, Pikitup has descended into the political arena…
“The company (Pikitup) is used to advance the narrow political interests of the ANC by targeting the spots identified by the EFF for the Andries Tatane Clean-up Campaign and sabotaging a genuine programme that is meant to preserve the name of Andries Tatane, and restore dignity to our people.
“By doing this, the company has insulted the residents of Johannesburg, who have been living with filth and in dire need of waste-collection services for years,” Dunga said.
“Recreational parks have been left in disarray, compromising the safety of children who need them for their development and creativity.”
He said Pikitup has also failed to simply put up signage as an attempt to educate residents on the importance of keeping the environment clean by not littering.
“The inner city and the townships have become a vortex of chaos, filth, and dumping sites, and this is unacceptable.
“Ever since the EFF launched the Andries Tatane Clean-up Campaign, we have experienced an extreme and unreasonable reluctance from Joburg Metro and Pikitup to aid this progressive programme,” Dunga said.
“The EFF, through the MMCs for public safety in the City, has embarked on a decisive programme to rid our communities of the dumping areas, which have become breeding grounds for crime and havens for criminals.
“Yet the department responsible for this has not been forthcoming.”
Dunga said they have experienced the opposite of what is expected, and that the company has been getting itself involved “in politics of falsity against the people by conniving with political organisations to sabotage the EFF’s programme”.
“The residents of Johannesburg pay their rates so they can receive basic services and not for narrow politics,” Dunga said.
“The EFF is calling for the suspension of Pikitup’s managing director, Bukelwa Njingolo, and her team so that they can then freely participate in politics without interfering with the business of the people, as this seems to be their wish.
“By behaving in this manner, Pikitup has proved to us it is capable enough of providing basic services to the people of Johannesburg, but the leadership is only interested in unrelated matters. It is also worth mentioning that the company has been notorious for treating its staff members unfairly, and for corruption scandals,” Dunga said.
“We reiterate that the director must be removed and the company must be realigned to its core mandate,” he added.
Pikitup, a municipal company established with the sole mandate to manage waste in a dignified manner, “a job that it has dismally failed to execute”, Dunga said.
Numerous attempts to get comment from Pikitup proved fruitless.
The Star