PRETORIA – Joburg residents have been urged to take photographs of vehicles of Pikitup employees demanding “Christmas gifts” and report them.
“Pikitup, the waste management company of the City of Johannesburg, has once again noted with concern complaints from residents about its employees demanding ‘Christmas gifts’. Pikitup employees are not allowed to demand or request gifts from residents,” said Pikitup spokesperson Muzi Mkhwanazi.
Joburg residents have also been discouraged from offering Christmas gifts to Pikitup employees.
“These exercises have opened an avenue for imposters who pretend to be Pikitup employees and demand gifts from ratepayers,” Mkhwanazi said.
He said Pikitup employees soliciting for gifts must be reported.
“In the event that legitimate Pikitup employees demand Christmas gifts from residents, affected residents must take a picture of the implicated employee, the registration number of the compactor truck used and report the incident using Pikitup’s call centre number: 010055990,” Mkhwanazi said.
“Although Pikitup has no control over people who pretend to be its employees and demand Christmas gifts from residents, the company urges residents who are confronted by such individuals to report them to law enforcement agencies.”
Earlier this year, three bogus Pikitup recruiters, who made about R400 000 from a scam, were arrested.
The three bogus recruiters, Phumzile Hlungwani, 37, Linky Khumotso Machete, 31, Esther Chuma, 44, all made an appearance in the Protea Magistrate’s Court for allegedly selling job opportunities at the waste management service provider.
The trio of women were arrested by the Hawks’ serious corruption investigation team in partnership with the City of Joburg’s Group Forensic and Investigation Service (GFIS) in Protea North after an investigation.
GFIS spokesperson Lucky Sindane said on Monday, that law enforcement pounced on the three suspects while they were addressing their victims.
At the time, Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha said the arrests of the trio came following reports of jobs for sale that emerged from community members in Soweto.
IOL