Waste pickers getting raw deal
Providence Moyo
Bulawayo female waste pickers have spoken out over their exploitation by companies and individuals who underpay them.
This emerged during a meeting hosted by Matebeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) held last week.
Among the attendees at the launch of Bulawayo Women’s Waste Cafe (BWWC) a project that seeks to ameliorate challenges faced by female waste peakers, were Member of Parliament for Bulawayo Central, Nicola Watson and officials from Women’s Bank, Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender Commission and waste pickers.
Speaking during the meeting MIHR coordinator, Khumbulani Maphosa said while compiling a report on female waste pickers, his organisation noted different kinds of human rights violations that are rife in the waste picking sector and this included underpayment of waste pickers by companies and individuals that buy the products.
“This job is a challenging job and for one to get to a kilogram of waste is not easy but they get paid close to nothing as a kilogram is worth one rand or $ZW 50,” he said.
The report that was compiled by MIHR in September indicates that this underpayment has often led to sexual harassment of female waste pickers by both buyers and transporters who promise waste pickers better waste buying rates in exchange for sexual favours.
“There is a lot of pushing and shoving as people fight for the waste and perpetrators include young boys who fight women, women themselves fighting one another and also the council officials who confiscate the waste pickers’ goods backed up by the council by-law of 1979 which clearly stipulates that once waste is out of households, it becomes council property,” Maphosa said.
While acknowledging that there are institutions that have been set up to assist females through offering financial support, Maphosa advocated for free access to these services as he said some of the requirements that include quotations are prohibitive to informal traders who include waste pickers because of the nature of their work.
“These people go to work with a lot of uncertainties in relation to production as they may find the goods today but tomorrow is not guaranteed so, getting a quotation in such an environment is impossible,” he said.
One Waste Picker from Magwegwe who identified herself as MaMpala called for capacitation projects that target waste pickers. She also took pride in her work. “I am confident about my work as it allows me to be my own boss, set targets and work at my own pace,” she said.
The EMA representative said EMA welcome environmental projects and prioritize those that will not have a negative impact on the environment. She said every project is subjected to impact-based assessment.
Maphosa encouraged waste pickers to embrace innovation to grow.
“I challenge waste pickers to consistently grow by being business minded and innovative and having a culture of investing their money in other business opportunities that could positively impact their lives. They have to dream big and be wise because they cannot be waste pickers for life,” said Maphosa.
Through capacitation by MIHR under BWWC, a group of 24 Bulawayo female waste pickers have formed an organisation called The Wise Angels Waste Pickers whose agenda is to introduce upcycling in the city which is a process of turning waste into something else without adding anything special to it but just creativity.
