Still have stinky garbage bins on your pavement? Here’s how refuse collection is going in your area

2026-03-16 - 13:03

Johannesburg residents frustrated by overflowing bins may have to wait a little longer for their rubbish to be removed, as several routes in Randburg and other parts of the city remain behind schedule. While Pikitup launched a weekend plan to alleviate the mounting refuse backlog, several areas will only have their waste collected during the week. Backlogs leave rubbish piling up The backlog has been linked to operational challenges affecting the city’s waste management operations, leaving bins uncollected in several suburbs and prompting complaints from residents about rubbish piling up on pavements. Pikitup deployed a weekend “blitz” to try to reduce the number of outstanding routes across the city. The intervention targeted areas where collections had fallen behind in an attempt to restore normal service as quickly as possible. But not all affected routes were cleared. Limited clarity from Pikitup When contacted by The Citizen, Pikitup spokesperson Anthony Selepe declined to confirm the specific areas outstanding but claimed that nine of the city’s 12 depots had been “dealt with” and that the remaining three were still being “addressed”. When asked which depots were still affected and what recovery plans were in place, Selepe said the information could be found on social media. However, a search of the utility’s social media updates on Monday morning didn’t provide any further clarity on which depots had been “dealt with”, with all depots showing they were still cleaning dirty streets. It showed that 10 routes at the Avalon depot and five routes at the Orange Farm depot were still outstanding, with no recovery plan listed. Two routes at the Midrand depot were also outstanding and were being collected on Monday before trucks resumed their normal weekly routes. 14 routes covered by the Zondi depot are in progress, but one route remains outstanding without a recovery plan. Roodepoort depot 20 routes are currently in progress, with trucks starting the backlog before proceeding to its normal schedule. Randburg depot has 23 routes in progress, with trucks starting the backlog before their Monday rounds. Noorwood depot has 12 routes in progress. Marlboro depot has 18 routes in progress. Central Camp depot has 9 routes in progress. SouthDale depot has 13 routes in progress. Waterval depot has 10 routes in progress. Updates from the Selby depot were last issued on Friday, 13 March 2026, showing 21 routes still outstanding with no recovery plan indicated. ALSO READ: This is why Pikitup are slow to collect your bins DA warns of ‘crisis’ The DA has warned that the situation could deteriorate further if operational issues affecting waste services are not resolved urgently. The party said waste services in the city could grind to a halt if problems with landfill access and payments to service providers continue. The DA added that rubbish trucks were turned away at the Robinson landfill site in southern Johannesburg last week, warning that outstanding payments and operational disruptions could result in refuse collections stopping again. “Our streets will again turn into dumping sites,” the party said, calling on the city to urgently address the payment issues and ensure landfill sites remain operational. NOW READ: Joburg’s Pikitup launches weekend blitz to tackle mounting waste backlogs in these areas