A New, Improved Waste Collection Service in Khayelitsha

Since its establishment Khayelitsha was serviced by an 85 litre bag/bin system for formal houses, while informal settlements were on a skip service. The standard of waste collection services were not up to the same level of service as that received in other areas of Cape Town. In order to correct this, new service standards were set.

In the informal settlements there has been extensive consultation with residents during the past year to introduce the new area cleaning and collection services. It is a door-to-door black bag system for which Khayelitsha has been divided into six easily manageable areas. Some residents will be employed to distribute and collect black bags from the households as well as for area cleaning on a boundary-to-boundary basis in the informal settlements. The storage of the collected bags will be changed from skips to lockable shipping containers, which will be placed in key sites throughout the settlements.

For formal households, the process of delivering the 240 litre wheelie bins to replace the 85 litre bag/bin system has been completed. The new bin has a larger capacity, enabling the City to deliver the same service level standard as that enjoyed by all other areas.

New contractors have been appointed for both the formal housing areas and the informal settlements. Good news for the residents of Khayelitsha is that the tenders specified that all labour is to be sourced from settlements in the area. This will provide much needed employment opportunities.

The current refuse removal contract, a tripartite agreement between the City Council, Tedcor and nine entrepreneurs, to service the northern half of Khayelitsha, will come to an end on 30 June 2006. This five year contract commenced in November 1997 and ended in October 2002, as the option to renew was not exercised. The contract has since been rolled out on a month-to-month basis while tenders were being processed. New tenders, with specified standards to ensure an equitable refuse removal service, were introduced in the City. The current contract was not only in breach of the Supply Chain Policy, but also cost the City more than the new tenders that were awarded.

If the community have any queries they can contact the Khayelitsha Depot on 021 367 1991 or visit any of the City's offices in Khayelitsha.

Issued by:
Directorate: Communication and Marketing
City of Cape Town
Email: media@capetown.gov.za
Tel: 021 400 2201
Fax: 021 957 0023

Media queries:
Formal Areas: Eugene Hlongwane
Solid Waste Department
Tel: 021 400 5256
Informal Settlements: Claire Mckinnon
Solid Waste Department
Tel: 021 400 2822