City of Cape Town contractors mess up

A jogger runs past a rubbish dump and a polluted stream in Siyahlala informal settlement. Photos: Sandiso Phaliso

Rubbish is piling up in some of Cape Town’s townships because contractors are not meeting their obligations, according to the City of Cape Town.

Contractors appointed on 1 September 2025 under the Community-Based Refuse Removal programme to service these areas have failed to meet key contractual obligations, the City said in a statement on 21 October.

“As a result of contract breaches, the City is following due process towards termination of contracts, and appointment of replacement service providers as a matter of urgency.”

Affected areas include parts of Mitchells Plain, Strandfontein, Capricorn, Khayelitsha, Helderberg, Gugulethu and Philippi.

The City said it is following “due process to appoint alternate contractors” identified through the original tender process to provide services, and may make use of labour brokers in the short term if necessary.

Corner of Sheffield Rd and Sagwityi Str in Philippi. Rubbish has spread onto the road.

Corner of Bristol Road and Debeza Street in Philippi. Rubbish piling on the side of the road next to a container is an eyesore for residents.

For months this area in Brown’s Farm has not been cleaned.

In Marikana informal settlement people throw rubbish on the streets because there is no company contracted to clean it.

Rubbish piles up along a street in Ramaphosa informal settlement.

An informal rubbish dump in Lotus Park.

“The City is urgently addressing these issues and reviewing the performance of contractors responsible for payments and service delivery. Our workers are the heart of a cleaner, healthier city, and the cleanliness of our communities remains a top priority. We are doing everything possible to get services back on track and restore normal operations soon,” said mayco member for Urban Waste Management, Alderman Grant Twigg.

The City says it is working to ensure that all workers who have signed contracts with the non-compliant contractors are paid and will look into strengthening checks and balances to ensure that contractors are “capacitated to honour the terms of the contract”.

When GroundUp visited Philippi, Marikana informal settlement, Samora Machel and Lotus Park in Gugulethu this week, rubbish was strewn over the road, and it was evident rubbish had not been collected for some time.

There were nappies, rotten food, shoes, dead dogs and broken electric appliances in the road, and the rubbish was blocking drains.

Residents in these areas said they were forced to throw rubbish on the streets.

Loyiso Nqitiza, a community leader in Marikana, said there were flies and maggots everywhere.

“The stench is unbearable,” he said.

Thembelihle Khehla, from Ramaphosa informal settlement in Philippi, said families were living “in a pigsty”.

“No human should be living under such circumstances when a government claims to care for its citizens,” he said.

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