Waste pickers counting on new councillors

Waste pickers in Bulawayo expect the newly elected councillors  for  Bulawayo to champion their cause and give them recognition.

In an exclusive with community podium,Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) director Khumbulani Maphosa said waste pickers have long yearned for acceptance which the previous leadership did not provide.

 “Waste pickers need to be recognised as contributors to waste management in the city. The cat and mouse game between the two stakeholders must  stop because city council officers have a culture of confiscating  waste from these pickers leaving them with nothing yet they are trying to make a living. 

City by-laws must be reviewed in line with the empowerment of waste pickers. They are at the lowest  level of life  and are surrounded by  several grievances  that include lack of spaces to store their  products which ends up creating  conflicts with their landlords.”

 Continuing, Maphosa said waste pickers deserve  incentives for  cleaning up the city. He believes they  do more than the paid  cleaners of the local authority.

 Turning to the Ngozi Mine recurring fires Maphosa called for stakeholder engagement. A lot of waste picking activities are done at Ngozi Mine.

“I think it is best for the local authority to engage settlers at Ngozi mine  to find answers on why  there are recurring fires instead of blaming  the settlers. These fires cause damage to the environment and climate as a whole.”