Gauteng’s waste collection woes: R1 billion needed for landfills, R60 million for fleets

The Gauteng provincial government will require over a billion rands to optimise its refuse collection and disposal services.

MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) Jacob Mamabolo has provided the provincial legislature with a detailed breakdown of each municipality’s operational capacity.

Mamabolo shared the information via a written response to a question in the legislature.

Gauteng has 11 municipalities and over 15 million producers of waste, with Johannesburg alone producing 1.6 billion tons of trash a year.

Fleet capacity

The Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni metros are two the most populous in the province and have the largest fleets of vehicles.  

The MEC’s response shows that the City of Ekurhuleni has only nine of 102 vehicles operational, while the City of Johannesburg has 79 of its 124 trucks currently in use.

The City of Tshwane did not disclose their fleet capacity, but confirmed it has an external contractor who charged the city a daily service rate.

In Emfuleni, 34 trucks are out of operation due to breakdowns, while 29 have reached the end of their lifespan and need to be replaced.

Midvaal reported that three of their nine trucks were operational between January and March, while Lesedi said five of their nine trucks were operational.

Mogale City and Rand West City confirmed that their vehicles were leased, while the West Rand district and Sedibeng municipalities were not responsible for waste collection services for residents.

Outsourced services

The DA took exception to the reliance on external contractors while scores of trucks were grounded.

“These municipalities should consider repairing the trucks that are gathering dust due to insufficient maintenance and repairs,” said DA Cogta spokesperson Khathutshelo Rasilingwane.

“It would be sensible to utilise the existing staff in waste management departments to guarantee timely waste collection without straining the budget further.

The DA said it would continue to press the administration on the details of these outsourced contracts and why they were being prioritised over fixing the existing fleets.

Costs, maintenance and backlogs

Ekurhuleni’s annual estimated cost for repairs and maintenance of its waste management vehicles was R26.2 million and 10 new trucks are due for delivery by June.

Johannesburg’s estimated cost to repair and restore the 45 non-operational vehicles amounted to just over R900 000 and it only had a modest 1% backlog per week

Tshwane did not disclose their maintenance costs and insisted “there are no waste collection services backlogs in the city”.

In Merafong, R12 million is needed to repair their fleet, while R20.8 million was required to repair the trucks and compactors at Lesedi municipality.

Rand West City covered the cost of fuel and insurance for their service provider, but wished to recruit additional staff to the tune of R6 million annually.

Emfuleni reported the highest rate of missed collections, averaging an 84% backlog in residential collections.

Despite their challenges, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Mogale City, Merafong and Midvaal said there were no collection backlogs in their municipalities.  

Ensuring the facilities that accept waste are fit for purpose also requires funding and Johannesburg lists the requirement to rehabilitate landfills at R835 million, with no allocation pending.

Emfuleni estimated R100 million each would be needed to refurbish its two disused landfill sites, with Tshwane and Lesedi preparing to spend a combined R13.8 million on authorisations to close eight dumping sites. 

Landfills

Space in a congested province is already at a premium where waste disposal sites fight against the need for housing and other basic services.

To service Gauteng’s three metros, there are 13 operational landfill sites.  

All but one of the smaller municipalities has a single landfill site, with only Mogale City’s Luipaardsvlei facility having exceeded capacity.

At the southern end of the province, Midvaal has three landfills with space to spare.

Vaal Marina landfill is at 80% capacity, while Henley-on-Klip and Walkerville were at 60% and 40% capacity, respectively.

The municipalities have various smaller dumping sites and landfills that are not operational, with rehabilitation programmes subject to environmental law, compliance and funding challenges. 

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