Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork

Chapter 6: Down at the dumpsBox 21: Visiting Palm SpringsWhen the groundWork research team visited the dump, a column of thick, acrid blacksmoke rose up from the salvage yard where the pickers organise their collections. It islate afternoon and a bitterly cold winter wind is blowing. A group of young men havelit a tyre, probably for warmth, and it burns fiercely. From the top of the dump, Loateblows a whistle and shouts an instruction to put out the fire. The reclaimers do sowithout hesitation. He then sends a picker to summon everyone to meet the researchteam. From all corners the waste pickers ascend the dump and assemble in a circle.At the centre of the circle, Loate asks them to describe how things have changed sincehe took over the running of the dump. Martin Themba Khosa moves to the centre andexpresses their gratitude. Life has become much easier. In particular, he appreciates theprovision of transport to take the collected materials to the buyers. After his speech,as the wind-driven rain pelts us, Khosa shared his history with the research team. Hewas born in Johannesburg and stayed in Diepkloof until he was “kicked out”. He thenmoved in with his sister in Orange Farm. She has since died. At home he has “two smallsisters”. He has contacted the welfare to help him look after the girls “but they didn’tcome”. He comes to the dump every day. He collects tins, glass and PET plastics.Loate addresses the meeting. “I am very proud of the reclaimers on this dump,” hesays, “and South Africa should be very proud of them too. Out of the 11,000 cubicmetres of waste, they manage to recycle 4,000 cubic metres. They are saving air-spaceon the dump and they are protecting the environment.” He pauses to let it sink in, andconcludes with a view to the future: “At the moment, there are no industries that bringwaste here. But as soon as Boitshepi is closed, we will be lucky here.”One of the pickers asks: “If we find gold, diamonds or guns on the dump, who shouldwe give it to?” It is not an idle question. Anything could be found here. The pickersonce found a fully functional pistol which was handed in to the police. They havealso found dead babies. Alongside such testimony to people’s desperation, unexplainedriches can land on the dump. Gold and diamonds? Loate tells the story that, while hewas working on the Simmer and Jack dump in Ekurhuleni, a truck dumped bags ofmoney. Literally. The pickers got rich that day.The rain stops and the sun appears. A truck arrives to off-load and the pickers rundown the hill to sort through the contents. Between the cardboard they find neatlywrapped, clean stationary and bags. One of the bags is offered to Oupa, who declines.While Loate is convincing as a benign manager – with a solid grasp of realpolitik onthe dumps – the pickers are now extremely dependent on the vision and goodwill of asingle individual.- 166 - groundWork - Wasting the Nation