About 70 waste reclaimers from the African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO) came to Brixton, Johannesburg, on 13 December to clean up the streets alongside residents in the rain. The Brixton Community Forum (BCF) and the ARO began a collaboration in 2018, sparked by a shared concern about waste, environmental justice and community resilience, explained Sophia Welz, from the BCF. “What inspired this …
is that the waste that was supposed to be properly diverted, after the [Marie Louise] landfill [in Soweto] was closed … is going to the community right next door. So an illegal dump is actually being created by the city,” said the ARO’s Luyanda Hlatshwayo.
The ARO encourages individuals to separate tin, paper, glass, plastic and food scraps before disposal. This enables reclaimers to effectively manage waste. “So collectively, if we’re working together, we can find the solution.
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Then government will come after if they want to,” said Hlatshwayo. “Your bin has 80% of recyclables and about 80% of compost. The rest is going to be construction waste.
If we manage it from source, then we don’t really need landfills. “Hopefully, we can get the city to come on board — the city, as in the people, not the government. The government will come later.
We need to do it as a people from the ground.” On 13 December, 500 bags of waste were collected in Brixton, six stormwater drains were cleaned, one open manhole was fixed, and major dumping sites opposite the primary school and the cemetery were cleaned by the reclaimers. Betty Letchuli (50), a lifelong Krugersdorp resident, has been a reclaimer for almost 15 years. “What I can tell people is that our government is poor.
We don’t have jobs. So instead of sitting at home crying to the government, [we create our own job, that of reclaiming]. It’s not something bad.
People call us names because we are the reclaimers. At the end of the day, we are not asking anything from anyone because we are making our own money. We are our own bosses,” said Letchuli.
“Here in the reclaiming area, we are [making] a lot of money, just like the person who goes to the factory at work, and now I’m my own boss. I wake up at my own time. I knock off at my own time.
I work as I want. So it’s a very good thing. Now, other people, they’re appreciating us, because they are talking to us on the climate.
“Our country will be clean if we can all stand up … and be the reclaimers. Let’s claim our future.”
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