Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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Chapter 6: Down at <strong>the</strong> dumpsleadership has never<strong>the</strong>less kept its side of <strong>the</strong> bargain in terms of policing dumppicking which is seen as “an attack on <strong>the</strong> community”. For its part, following a fire in<strong>the</strong> settlement, DSW allowed a limited number of people on site to collect materialsto rebuild <strong>the</strong>ir shacks.The contract, meanwhile, was handed back to Kelly. Conditions according to one of<strong>the</strong> site cleaners, who did not wish to be named, are wretched: “The dump is a filthyplace. It has gas and dust. … There is a high number of people working at <strong>the</strong> dumpwho have died of Tb [although] we can’t say for sure it is <strong>the</strong> dump. … We were 20when I started in 2001. More than 10 have died.” 95 Kelly is seen as indifferent to<strong>the</strong>se deaths because it contributes nothing to <strong>the</strong> families for <strong>the</strong> funerals and didnot respond to requests to set up a funeral scheme. Workers are also fearful of raisinghealth issues or asking why so many people die: “You can’t talk like that. You will loseyour job. They tell you not to give out information when <strong>the</strong>y hire you.” Workersare entitled to limited sick leave but are clearly reluctant to expose <strong>the</strong>mselves to <strong>the</strong>possibility of losing <strong>the</strong>ir jobs. Wages at Bisasar Road have been paltry at R9 an hour,but were due to be raised to R14 an hour, still low by comparison with permanentmunicipal employment.Zikode acknowledges that people are also dying in <strong>the</strong> settlement. “In <strong>the</strong> middle classcommunity <strong>the</strong>y talk about cancer, and asthma and people dying.” But this cannotbe discussed in <strong>the</strong> settlement because <strong>the</strong>re are too many more immediate threats tolife than <strong>the</strong> long term effect of breathing poisoned air. People die by fire “and no-onecares”. One child was killed by a rat, which may have come from <strong>the</strong> dump or bredin <strong>the</strong> refuse piled up in <strong>the</strong> settlement. The people saw it as <strong>the</strong> consequence of <strong>the</strong>municipality’s refusal to collect refuse from <strong>the</strong> settlement. Meanwhile, <strong>the</strong> landfill isstill seen as a source of livelihoods and resources.The workers suffer <strong>the</strong> double hazard of conditions on <strong>the</strong> landfill and at home. Itshould be noted that DSW is clearly <strong>the</strong> real employer. It controls <strong>the</strong> work on <strong>the</strong> siteand even who is recruited. What is outsourced is responsibility for legal compliance anddisciplining workers along with low wages and non-unionised insecurity. The brokeris thus a function of <strong>the</strong> employer’s interest. In taking on this role as a communityproject, it is not clear that KRDC or Mzombe fully recognised <strong>the</strong> contradictions.95 Tb may be used here to mean any respiratory disease or it may be that conditions on <strong>the</strong> dump worsen actualTb.- 150 - groundWork - <strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong>