Waste picking keeps Majako’s family fed

At 47, Keikantsemang Majako carries the responsibility of providing for a household that stretches across generations .

She looks after her own children, grandchildren and siblings, making the income she earns as a reclaimer at Khazimula Buy Back Centre in Mohlakeng, Randfontein, essential to her family’s survival .

Majako and other reclaimers would walk around the community looking for bottles, often without proper bags. They would collect what they could, put the materials into plastic bags and take them to shops to be weighed.

The earnings were not that much, “On some days I would make R100. Before, we would hustle for bottles. We didn’t have bags. We would hustle for bottles, put them in plastic and then take them to the store where we would weigh and get money. But it was very hard because we were not working and we were making very little money,” she said.

Today, she describes herself as the sole breadwinner in her household. “I’m the sole breadwinner, so everyone’s depending on me on the salary that I make here. I’m looking after my grandkids. I’m looking after my own kids. So everyone is dependent on me.”

The work has changed her family’s circumstances. With the money she earns from collecting and selling recyclable materials, Majako can buy groceries and put food on the table. “It has changed my situation at home a bit,” she said.

But waste picking was not entirely unfamiliar to Majako. She grew up in a household where recycling was practised. That experience gave her some knowledge of recycling before she entered the industry herself.

Working through the centre has helped create a more organised system for the reclaimers.

For Majako, however, the importance of the work goes beyond the money. She believes reclaimers play a role in reducing the amount of waste that ends up in illegal dumping sites in their communities.

“Recycling is very important because it helps us alleviate the dirt that we see in our dumping sites and illegal dumping sites in our communities,” she said.

For a woman supporting several generations of her family, every recyclable bottle collected represents both an environmental benefit and a contribution towards keeping her household going.