Johannesburg Waste Piles up Amid Labour Disputes and Landfill Closures

Refuse from the Randburg depot is being diverted nearly 40 minutes south to the only operating landfills.

• Only two of Johannesburg’s landfill sites, Goudkoppies and Robinson Deep, are fully operational.
• Trucks from northern depots are redirected to southern sites dramatically extending turnaround times.
• Meanwhile labour disputes and community protests demanding jobs have repeatedly disrupted Pikitup operations and waste collection.
• Residents in Cosmo City, Zandspruit, Kya Sands and Honeydew have blocked depot gates demanding employment opportunities.

Uncollected garbage is piling up across Johannesburg amid protests and labour disputes at waste management utility, Pikitup.

Only two landfill sites are fully operational – Goudkoppies and Robinson Deep, both south of the city – according to a Pikitup statement on Wednesday.

Other landfills, including Marie Louise and Ennerdale, have been restricted to accepting only builders’ rubble and soil in an attempt to extend the lifespans of the sites.

Trucks from northern depots, including Randburg, Midrand, Marlboro and Norwood, are being diverted to the two operational sites, dramatically extending turnaround times and creating a collection and street sweeping backlog in some neighbourhoods.

“The queue of trucks to the two landfills has been so much more,” Pikitup spokesperson Anthony Selepe told GroundUp.

Pikitup said management at the Selby, Orange Farm and Central Camp depots are talking to workers to restore services. The Roodepoort depot is also running behind schedule as teams attempt to normalise collections.

Protests and labour tensions have also repeatedly disrupted garbage collection.

Protesters claimed Pikitup promised to give permanent positions to hundreds of casual workers by late 2025. This was postponed to 15 January, but then postponed again, sparking a wave of strikes in late January.

At the time, managing director Bukelwa Njingolo said general worker posts advertised in 2024 had to be advertised again. The process started after an internal audit and legal review found “material flaws” in the recruitment process.

The labour disputes are ongoing.

A worker at the Norwood Pikitup depot, who did not wish to be named, fearing repercussions, said, “They promised me I would be full time last year. I’m not.”

The depot management denied making the promise.

In Cosmo City, Pikitup said protesting residents disrupted operations demanding permanent job opportunities on Wednesday.

The Randburg depot also shut down for several days after residents blocked the entrance on 3 March, demanding jobs.

Pikitup said the labour issues spilt over into community protests, with residents blocking depot gates in recent weeks to demand jobs in Zandspruit, Cosmo City, Kya Sands and Honeydew.

Workers have been threatened while attempting to collect refuse in some northern suburbs.

Selepe said protesters and groups linked to former contractors were finding ways to “disrupt”, “intimidate” and “not allow our employees to do their work”.

The DA alleged that the City of Johannesburg failed to transfer funds to Pikitup in January, leaving millions owed to landfill machinery suppliers and diesel for trucks unpaid.

The City has denied this.

Dealing with the crisis

Pikitup says it is talking to neighbouring municipalities and provincial authorities about expanding existing landfill capacity.

Pikitup is also promoting its separation-at-source recycling programme, developing sorting facilities, a biogas plant for food waste, and a waste-to-energy plant – all aimed at reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills.

Professor Kevin Mearns at UNISA’s Department of Environmental Sciences said metros across Gauteng have failed to plan adequately for new waste disposal sites. He said municipalities will need new landfill sites and to significantly expand recycling programmes.

He warned that many landfills are approaching the end of their operational lifespan.

In December 2025, we reported how Joburg’s only operational landfills at that stage – Marie-Louise, Goudkoppies, Ennerdale and Robinson Deep – were all between 95% and 98% full.

Pikitup said it plans to spend about R430-million upgrading Johannesburg’s landfills to meet health and safety standards, and extend their lifespan.

While landfill airspace can sometimes be extended by raising the height of sites, Mearns cautioned that this process requires regulatory approvals and can increase environmental risks for communities.

City bins in Yeoville have not been emptied for weeks.

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