Desperate times for Joburg’s wastepickers
Joburg’s wastepickers are a central part of the city’s recycling economy. But a change in policy is threatening their already meagre livelihoods
Weaving in and out of traffic, shaky trolleys precariously stacked with recyclables, wastepickers — or reclaimers, as they’re called in Joburg — have created an entire informal economy out of recycling, and it’s saved the country millions. It’s a difficult job, any reclaimer will tell you. Each day is a race to beat Pikitup to the black bins that line Joburg’s streets. Some reclaimers camp out in the neighbourhoods they work in to get a head-start on the waste giant. Others start their days before the sun is up, giving them time to tackle Joburg’s vast landfills to collect waste, or to rustle through the bins before the Pikitup trucks arrive. They travel about 50km a day, navigating their trolleys through Joburg’s furious traffic. Then there’s the crime. "It’s hard, hard, hard work," says Thomas Mudau, 41, who started working as a reclaimer after he lost his job as a gardener in 2011. "I wake up at 5am so I can walk on the streets. I don’t feel safe." Unlike most reclaimers, who pus...
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