Pest control in Katlehong

Pest control in Katlehong means dealing with rats around homes and shops, German cockroaches in kitchens, bed bugs in bedrooms and backyard rooms, and flies in summer. Combat Pest Control serves Katlehong from Johannesburg, works out where the pests are breeding and treats so they don't simply walk back in from next door.

Why Katlehong has the pest problems it does

Katlehong is one of the largest townships on the East Rand, in Ekurhuleni, between Germiston, Alberton and Vosloorus. It has older family houses, newer government-built homes, hostels, informal settlements and many backyard rooms rented out behind the main house. There are spaza shops, taverns, hair salons, butcheries and food stalls on almost every main road.

Homes are close together and often share boundary walls, so a rat problem or cockroach problem rarely belongs to one property alone. Where refuse collection is irregular, bins and illegal dumping sites feed rats and flies. In summer the heat and storms make everything move faster. None of this is about how clean a household is; the layout of the area simply gives pests short, easy routes between buildings.

What we treat most in Katlehong

Rats

Brown rats burrow along walls, under concrete slabs and beneath outside rooms, and they come in at night through gaps under doors and around pipes. Signs are droppings, gnawed food packets, greasy marks along walls and holes in the ground near the house. We place lockable, tamper-resistant bait stations so children and animals can't reach the bait, use traps indoors where needed, and show you which holes and gaps to close. Our rat control in Johannesburg explains how this works step by step.

Cockroaches

German cockroaches are the kitchen problem: small, light brown and hiding in warm places like the back of the fridge, the kettle base and cupboard hinges. They also travel in boxes and secondhand appliances. Spraying scatters them into the walls. Gel bait placed where they hide, with a follow-up visit, gets rid of them properly. Read more about our cockroach treatments.

Bed bugs

Bed bugs spread with secondhand mattresses, bags and visitors, and they move easily between rooms that share walls. Look for small blood spots on sheets, dark marks along mattress seams and bites in a line on the skin. Bed bugs need a careful treatment of the bed, bed base, cracks and furniture, usually with a follow-up, because eggs hatch after the first visit.

Flies

Flies breed in rotting rubbish, animal waste and food scraps. Butcheries, food stalls and homes near dumping sites suffer most from about October to March. Treating where they breed matters more than spraying the adult flies you can see.

Shops, taverns and food businesses

Spaza shops and food businesses carry stock that rats and cockroaches love, and one infested delivery can start a problem. We offer scheduled visits for small businesses, with lockable bait stations and a written service record each time, which is what a health inspector wants to see.

What people commonly get wrong

Many people buy street poison for rats. It is often unregistered, dangerous to children and pets, and rats that eat it can die inside walls and ceilings, where the smell lasts for weeks. Registered bait inside a locked station is safer and works better. The same goes for strong sprays on bed bugs: they rarely reach the eggs and the bugs just move to the next room.

When pests are at their worst

Cockroaches and bed bugs carry on all year indoors, but summer heat speeds up their breeding. Flies and ants peak from the first storms in spring until about March. Rats move closer to homes and into roofs and outside rooms when it gets cold. If you treat at the start of each season, it's a smaller job than treating at the peak.

A Katlehong tip

Talk to the neighbours, and to tenants in backyard rooms. If two or three properties sharing walls are treated at the same time and everyone closes the gaps under their doors, rats and cockroaches have nowhere left to retreat to. Treating one house alone often only moves the problem along the street.

How we work

We inspect first: kitchens, bedrooms, outside rooms, the yard and bin area. You don't need to leave home for normal treatments; keep children and pets away from treated surfaces until they are dry. We tell you what we found, what we treated and what to fix so it doesn't come back.

What it costs and why

Cost depends on the pest, the number of rooms or buildings, and how many visits are needed. Cockroach and rat treatments in a single home are fairly simple; bed bugs take longer because every bed and piece of furniture must be done, usually twice. Doing the main house and the backyard rooms together costs less than treating them separately over several months. You'll see a guide "from" price on this page, and our price list for pest control gives more detail.

We also work in nearby Thokoza and Vosloorus, and our pest control across Johannesburg page covers everything else we do.

Combat Pest Control is owned and operated by Jason van Heerden, with 25 years of experience. We're SAPCA registered and registered with the Department of Agriculture, we provide service within 24 hours, and general treatments are guaranteed for three months. Phone 084 200 2700 or WhatsApp us a photo and we'll help you identify the pest.