View From The Stalls 3

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View From The Stalls 3


Saw a sign on the side of a refuse truck the other day. It read “illegal dumping costs the city R350m per year”, and I thought, wow! that figure could be double were it not for the waste pickers, the men and women who scrummage through your bins looking for trash they could sell for recycling. You know the ones I’m talking about, the ones you regularly chase away with threats of castration if they ever came within 5m of your bin ever again!


Well my friends, those “bin scratches” as they are sometimes referred to, are an integral component of the informal economy and apart from earning a living by exposing themselves to extreme health risks, they perform a vital and thankless ecological service by ridding the landfill sites of recyclables. What have we done today to save our planet?


I engaged a “bin Scratcher” the other day. Must have been about 5am, I had just put out my bin when he traipsed across to me. whistling no known tune, he greeted me with a toothless smile and proceeded to gently rummage through the trash. After making him a sandwich and a cup of coffee, I engaged him on his routine. 


This fellow rises at 4am, 6 days a week and pushes his trolley to different areas across the southern suburbs rummaging through bins on dirt collection days. He supports a wife, 4 young children, and his departed sister’s 2 children from the proceeds of recycling. Being the only breadwinner, the responsibility for their survival rests squarely upon his over-worked shoulders. 


Yet he smiles, for tomorrow he gets the chance to collect discarded office paper in the factory area, and that, according to him, is a money spinner. “I could make R700 this week” he says as he shuts the lid of my bin. “Miskien kan ek my dogter ‘n paar tekkies koop” he adds, before greeting and moving on up the road to the next available bin.


But they are not in the business of trash dumping. On the occasions that you do see them dumping, then we must apportion the blame on unscrupulous and irresponsible home owners who take advantage of these souls by offering R10 or R20 to dump their unwanted items. Can you really blame them for taking the money?  These are our colleagues, the unsung ecological heroes and heroines of the informal economy of South Africa. Next time you see one going through your bin, greet him and ask how his day’s going. Maybe offer him a sandwich. I guarantee, you’ll make his day…   


~ By Q-squared.

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