The Environment and Infrastructure Services Department (EISD) is closely following a sporadic fire that broke out at the Goudkoppies Landfill site in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“Pikitup is on top of the situation and working hand in glove with Emergency Management Services (EMS) to bring this fire and smoke under control,” EISD MMC Councillor Michael Sun said.

“Informal recyclers, waste pickers as well as contractors to Pikitup have joined the effort to ensure the landfill site can remain open and executing its mandate. This operation is underway 24 hours a day until the fire is completely extinguished”

It remains unclear as to exactly what sparked the blaze but investigations are already underway to identify the fire’s cause and prevent a reoccurrence. MMC Sun also observed during his oversight visit on the morning of 26 September, that several waste pickers were still burning fires inside the landfill site despite security personnel efforts to stop them from doing so.

Pikitup has made contingency plans to ensure the fire does not interrupt refuse collection services in and around the area by diverting waste disposal to other landfill sites.