By Palesa Matlala
- Johannesburg’s landfills are nearly full, and Pickitup has stopped collecting rubbish bins in parts of Soweto since early March 2026.
- Sabelo Sibisi, 23, and three friends have made about R8,000 charging R50 per bin to collect and dump household waste.
Four young people from Dube, Soweto are making money from the City of Johannesburg’s rubbish crisis. They charge local residents R50 per bin to collect and dump their household waste.
Since early March 2026, Pickitup trucks have not been collecting rubbish bins across the city. Johannesburg’s landfill sites are nearing full capacity.
Johannesburg has four large landfill sites that service 12 depots. Only two of those four sites are currently accepting residential waste.
In some parts of Soweto, dump sites are currently overflowing. Some residents have started burning their waste.
Sabelo Sibisi, 23, started collecting bins with three friends at the beginning of March 2026. Sibisi’s father lent him a bakkie for the job, and the group dumps the bins at the Eldorado landfill site.
The group loads 10 rubbish bins onto the back of the bakkie at a time and makes about 11 trips per run.
Together, the four friends have made about R8,000 since the beginning of March 2026.
The group also sorts through the waste, separating plastics, glass and metal, which they sell at different places.
“We make about R500 per week for all the recycled materials we collect, and all that money goes towards petrol,” Sibisi said.
Sibisi said he plans to use his share of the earnings to buy his father’s bakkie and use it for business.
Community members are frustrated by the slow rubbish collection, but they are willing to pay the group to collect their bins. They fear being fined for illegal dumping.
Pictured above: Plastic bottles, cups and other waste lie scattered on the ground.
Image source: @CorbyClean
