South Africa

She fights for a future amid the filth

03 May 2019 - 07:00 By Jackie Clausen
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

A waste picker can make up to R2500 a week on plastic alone and can move up to eight tons of recycling from landfills every month. TimesLive takes a closer look at the conditions that these eco-warriors face.

With her painted face that matches a grubby mustard-coloured ANC shirt, Philiswa Vamanda stands in a mountain of filth, her dream of becoming a nurse now a distant memory.

The 22-year-old may be petite but she is no pushover where she works as a waste picker at the often treacherous Msunduzi Landfill in Pietermaritzburg, where sorting through the mountain of discarded waste can have deadly consequences.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

Most read

  1. Woman who ‘got Sassa grants while her firm scored R88m SAPS tenders’ to return ... South Africa
  2. Shock as metro cop appears in court instead of reporting for duty South Africa
  3. New tobacco laws may worsen illicit trade, global conference hears South Africa
  4. Fidelis Moema, co-accused in KPMG R16m bursary fraud case granted R50k bail South Africa
  5. Israel attacks Iran, sources say, drones reported over Isfahan World

Latest Videos

Former Bafana midfielder Morgan ‘MG’ Gould on muti in football & state of ...
'Almost every refugee appeals their decision, causing backlogs': Minister of ...