Older reclaimers work without toilets or running water at Free State landfill

Health-e News Older reclaimers work without toilets or running water at Free State landfill At 58, Tankiso Khamadi continues to collect recyclable waste at the Nyakallong landfill in the Free State despite struggling with respiratory problems and being treated for tuberculosis (TB) last year.

Khamadi is among a group of mostly older reclaimers who say they work at the landfill without running water, toilets or security.

The group of older reclaimers told Health-e News they need the additional income to supplement their social grants, which they say is not enough to survive on.

Some receive an Older Persons Grant of R2600 a month, while others receive a R370 Social Relief of Distress grant.

In smaller townships like Nyakallong, reclaimers face lower local buying prices from middlemen, fewer corporate waste streams, and severe environmental obstacles.

The majority of waste pickers earn between R300 and R600 a week.

“If the Matjhabeng Municipality could remember that there is a landfill site in Nyakallong and elderly people are working there to pick waste for cash to feed and maintain their families, maybe they could mitigate safety and health harms that occur in the landfill site,” he says.

Khamadi has worked as a reclaimer since 2015.

In March last year, he was admitted to Thusanong Lejweleputswa District Hospital after experiencing severe breathing problems.

He says he was diagnosed with TB and recently completed six months of treatment.

He now uses an inhaler for asthma.

“I have to use it if I still value my life,” he says.

No toilets or running water Elizabeth Mthombeni, 62, who has hypertension, started collecting recyclables at the landfill in 2024.

She says conditions at the site have deteriorated.