Johannesburg’s waste crisis leaves communities surrounded by illegal dumps

In Johannesburg’s industrial suburb of Kya Sands, a mountain of illegally dumped rubbish has grown so large it now swallows the road beyond.

The waste pile emerged after a nearby municipal landfill reached capacity and closed in 2010. Today, rubbish stretches across the surrounding valley, with smoke rising from areas where waste is burned.

Residents say delayed refuse collection is worsening the problem — and raising health concerns, especially for children.

Linda Makole, local resident: “Small children can’t possibly be healthy living in this environment. As parents, we're in pain living in these conditions. My take is that our area wouldn't be this dirty if only the community stood together. Contributed 20 Rands and hired someone with a van to collect all the litter. If we minimize on the litter, it’ll help our children health-wise.”

Municipal councillor Devon Steenkamp says the crisis is the result of years of poor planning and management.

“Since December last year, which is 2025, so for the few months now, refuse hasn't been collected on time, and it's not just because of broken trucks or strikes that are happening in odd periods. It's been years of mismanagement that’s been affecting refuse collection.”

The problem is not unique to Johannesburg. Across Africa, rapidly growing cities are struggling to collect and safely dispose of rising volumes of waste.

In Kya Sands, some residents say rubbish has gone uncollected for weeks, driving demand for informal waste haulers — and leaving communities to confront the consequences themselves.