Pikitup’s co-production model creates employment

Pikitup’s CO-PRODUCTION model creates

employment

The impact of Covid-19 on South Africa’s ailing economy has resulted in a huge loss of jobs. Gauteng, in particular the City of Johannesburg – the country’s centre of economic activity – has been adversely affected.

he recent Statistics South Africa

Tunemployment rate results bear this point out. The latest unemployment rate figures revealed an increase of 32.5%, with 7.2 million jobless people; however, despite the scientific confirmation of such a fact, one needs to drive around the city to witness first-hand the negative impact of unemployment.

The number of people begging or advertising their skills to potential employers is rising unabated. The long winding queues for unemployment insurance and social grants bear testimony to the scale of unemployment facing the country. Although an atmosphere of despair is pervasive as a result of joblessness and the outbreak of Covid-19, strides are being made to address the employment challenge.

Introduction of co-production model

The City of Johannesburg’s waste management company, Pikitup, has introduced its co-production model to contribute to efforts aimed at reducing the current 32.5% unemployment rate.

Cllr Mpho Moerane, MMC: Environment and Infrastructure Services, City of Johannesburg, launched the new co-production model at the company’s Southdale depot on 3 February 2021.

The co-production model entails that Pikitup should deliver on its waste management and minimisation mandate in conjunction with local communities or residents. This approach gives credence to Pikitup’s long-held view that it cannot achieve the highest standards of cleanliness possible without the participation and involvement of local communities.

In terms of the model, each ward in the city will be capacitated with 15 Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) employees, who will assist with waste management activities. The model’s approach entails the appointment of cooperatives, non-profit companies and exempted micro-enterprises to ensure improved waste management services in the City of Johannesburg. A total of 48 such companies will in turn appoint the above-mentioned number of employees on a rotational basis. They are meant to assist Pikitup with litter picking, street cleaning and rendering education and awareness programmes to residents about the value of a clean environment and the value of recycling, as well as the identification, clearing and/or reporting of illegal dumping when it occurs.

Moerane said the work of the appointed cooperatives, non-governmental organisations and micro-enterprises was critical in ensuring that Joburg rids itself of the tag of being a dirty city. He also stated that the EPWP workers who would be employed would also be responsible for recording and reporting incidences such as potholes, dysfunctional traffic lights, leaking pipes, and the monitoring and managing of illegal dumping spots.

The co-production model has created about 2 025 jobs in all the regions of the city.

Taking ownership

During the launch, Moerane emphasised the importance of taking ownership of the city’s cleanliness by all who reside in it. “It is easy to blame the government for everything each time our city is littered with trash; however, as we launch this programme to help enhance the cleanliness in our streets, it is important for us to note that the responsibility to keep our city clean remains with all of us,” he said.

The city is fast running out of landfill airspace and Pikitup’s four landfill sites collectively have less than five years’ worth of landfill airspace remaining. The dire need for communities to adopt responsible waste management through

recycling is an imperative to reduce waste that ends up at landfill sites.

The education and awareness creation aspect of the jobs that the appointed employees are charged with is anticipated to contribute immensely to the preservation of the remaining landfill airspace.

Currently, recycling efforts are gaining traction in high-income areas of the city and Pikitup has a target of diverting the following waste streams away from the landfill sites: 50% of green waste during FY 2020/21, 85% of builders’ rubble by 2021, and 85% of dry waste. This effectively means that 1 720 984 t of such waste must be diverted away from landfill.

It is against this backdrop that these education and awareness campaigns seek to raise awareness and encourage local residents not to include such waste in their bins but dispose of it in Pikitup’s waste disposal facilities situated in all the seven regions of the city.

The additional resources will also ensure that the street cleaning activities of Pikitup will be improved to assist ensuring that 9 000 km of streets will be kept clean. However, it must also be emphasised that such a reality is only possible if residents refrain from dumping waste illegally, as well as littering.

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