July 16, 2007
By Emily Visser
WITH the sun still hidden behind the yellow mine dump overlooking Pikitup's Southdale depot, workers get ready for another day. By 7.30am the 80-plus workers have been assigned their trucks for an eight-hour shift on the roads of Joburg.
Lunch is usually taken while the truck empties its load at the landfill in Robinson/Springfield.
The teams complete seven rounds each day, servicing different areas of the city. Each area is assigned a particular day on the weekly roster – and the work continues on most public holidays too.
Southdale is one of Pikitup's 11 depots around the city. It covers much of the southern side of Johannesburg, an area stretching from Overton in the north to Kibler Park in the south, and from the M2 east all the way to the border with Alberton.
The truck heaves off in the cold morning air. It's a bumpy, noisy ride, more so when the truck stops to load the bins. But it doesn't deter the crew members from chatting loudly to one another over the noise as they travel up and down the streets.
The south has the look of a giant labyrinth, one cluster complex melting into the next – each with a regiment of the stiff-backed bins lined up to be emptied.
Seeing Joburg from a different perspective: the Robinson landfill site
Some of the squad go ahead, running spot checks on the contents of the black wheelie bins and pushing them together for easier loading.
Over 40 bins are lined up at the first stop. Some have the gorged look of overeating, contents spilling on to the pavement.
It is Shadrack Mothibe's job to empty the 240l bins into the back of the truck where a hydraulic compactor makes short shrift of the common household waste, devouring almost 30 tons of waste per eight-hour shift.
Mothibe stops briefly to warm his gloved hands before he starts emptying bins, two at a time.
The empty bins are returned to the pavements. Other team members follow behind, picking up spilled objects, ensuring that the area is completely clean before moving on to the next batch of bins.
The truck continues on its route. "Don't trash the future", the slogan on the back of the truck reminds residents.
Doing it with pride
Johannes Matho, a supervisor with 42 years' service in the City behind him, hangs out of the truck window and calls out to one of the team members to speed it up. It's time to get moving; the truck is on a tight schedule.
The Pikitup team often has to wait for residents who put their bins out late, says Matho.
At each stop Matho runs a check on the contents of the bins. After all his years, Matho is still amazed at some of the things people throw away.
Spot-checks are done to ensure no illegal objects are placed in the bins. Pikitup crews have encountered some strange things on their shifts – animal carcasses, personal possessions, concrete slabs, human foetuses and, once, a new-born baby, says Matho.
Matho casts his trained eyes over the contents. He has an instinct for the job, moving the contents of an overfull bin to an emptier one, checking the bin's weight at the same time. Often bins are overly heavy because of building rubble – a no-no for the domestic waste bins.
Driver Jomo Lenyanyabedi, who has been behind the wheel for the last six years, is clearly proud of his truck, steering carefully around the maze of houses. The three different rear-view mirrors allow him to see various angles of the truck.
He waits patiently for the thumbs-up sign from fellow workers before driving off to the next stop.
The safety of workers comes first. Bins are moved to the left hand side so that workers don't have to cross busy roads, says Lenyanyabedi.
At one point on the route a local motorist is forced to stop behind the truck. The driver in the car throws up her hands and gestures. The truck is quickly moved out of the way and she is once more on her way – still gesticulating.
Attie Boshoff, the regional manager for the Southdale depot, speaks highly of his teams, referring to their work ethic, their pride and their commitment. "These workers, without a moment's hesitation, will finish the job – even if they have to work till deep into the night."
Boshoff has years of experience in refuse management, working at the inner city depot in Selby before joining Southdale.
Illegal dumping
Builder's rubble is a big problem. On just one round there are two bins filled with bricks, sand, tiles, empty paint tins and concrete. Throwing building material into the compactor is a sure way to damage the expensive equipment.
While the Pikitup teams don't collect garden waste – there are garden centres for that – a little garden refuse is accepted, mostly grass cuttings, leaves and twigs.
The day is just about to begin for Pikitup's Southdale teams
"No," indicates Matho as a woman runs out of her property with two black bags filled with garden refuse. Several more are visible inside the property. "We don't take garden refuse," he says firmly.
Further up the street an empty plot is turning into a dumpsite. There are broken bricks, decayed boards and wood, and other building debris in among the weeds. Matho takes down the street and stand number. He will report it once back at the depot.
Where possible, Pikitup tries to get the offender to clean up but, where the culprit cannot be traced, the City's waste management entity has to do the job – and carry the cost. "It costs Pikitup R80-million a year to control illegal dumping," Boshoff says.
"Everything Pikitup does can be seen with the eye," he says, adding that people are quick to point out mistakes or things not done.
Recycling
One of Pikitup's biggest challenges is making people more responsible about waste.
Southdale's operational manager, Don Ferreira, says a major concern is space – the City has four landfill sites and collects some 1.4 million tons of waste a year. Less than 13 percent is recycled.
"The only way recycling will work is if it is done at source and at this moment we [residents] do not have the discipline for this."
Residents can take garden waste to the five garden sites in the area where orange recycling bins have also been placed for glass, plastic and paper. "Recycling efforts are still in their infancy," says Ferreira.
However, says Boshoff, "an educational campaign is in hand to get the community involved in clean-up campaigns". Another well-known Pikitup slogan is "It's a collective effort".
A report done by The Economist found that recycling has varying degrees of success. Recycling aluminium, for example, can reduce energy consumption by as much as 95 percent. Savings for other materials are lower but still substantial: about 70 percent for plastics, 60 percent for steel, 40 percent for paper and 30 percent for glass. Recycling also reduces pollutant emissions of pollutants, which can cause smog, acid rain and the contamination of waterways.
Education needs to be coupled with law enforcement, according to Ferreira. "Ninety-nine percent of people are unaware of the legal implications of dumping."
By-law enforcement is done by the City's Metro Police. "[By-law enforcement] should be done consistently over long periods of time" to affect behaviour, Ferreira believes.
It's eight hours later and another day has ended for Matho and his team. Tomorrow they will start all over again.
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