Waste pickers reject unfair offers
BULAWAYO-Bulawayo female waste pickers operating at Bulawayo’s Richmond Landfill Site (popularly known as Ngozi Mine) have rejected the low prices at which they had been forced to sell their goods citing exploitation.
The waste pickers disclosed that buyers were offering to buy their merchandise at ZWL15 or ZWL20 per Kilogramme which the waste pickers consider to be extremely low.
“ZWL 15 to ZWL 20 is very little considering that it was the same price that was used during the beginning of the year when the USD to Zimbabwean Dollar rate was still 1:25 but now it is 1:60 on the parallel market rate,” said one waste picker.
The waste pickers have taken a bold stand to defend their rights by mobilizing other waste pickers and non-violently boycotting selling their stuff for a pittance.
Recently, some female waste pickers mobilized other waste pickers (both male and female) to refrain from selling at very low prices.
“We are demanding a 100% to 150% increase in prices in accordance with the spiraling inflation. As at the date of boycott they were buying for US$0.025 to US$0.033 per KG of waste,” revealed another waste picker.
Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) began training and supporting 150 Bulawayo female waste pickers on human rights and gender concerns in year 2021 and the organization has helped the female waste pickers find their voice and agency on critical matters affecting them.
The organization has been concerned by the gender divide between female and male waste pickers which has always fuelled incidences of gender based violence in the waste picking sector.
MIHR says the latest incidence of finding common ground and a uniting point is commendable and a sure sign of potential to bridge the divide and work together to transform the waste picking sector to be gender responsive and human rights based.
