Recycling business puts food on the table
“We are hoping to grow the business by creating employment for more people in our community and also hope we become business owners."
Tsakane – Unemployment has not stopped a group of women and men from Vuka Uziphilise from providing for their families.
These residents can be seen every morning pulling their carts to collect recyclable materials in their community.
Recycler, Idah Msiza, says she started recycling in 2003 in her backyard.
“I could not find employment and needed to contribute to the finances of my house.
“When a friend told me about an opportunity to sell recyclable materials for money, I said I was ready to work.
“I didn’t care what people thought of me and how I made money to support my children,” she says.
Idah says after years of fighting rats in her backyard, she decided to approach the ward councillor for a space opposite her home.
“I also invited some of the unemployed women and others who were working in their yards to join me.
“We were fortunate when the councillor agreed that we could use the dumping site space.
“Four years later we are growing stronger and we are able to put our children through school and feed them with the money we make from recycling.
“We are hoping to grow the business by creating employment for more people in our community and hope we become business owners,” she says.
Ward 85 Cllr Sipho Sibiya says he was raised by a mother who recycled bottles for a living.
“My mother managed to put us through school and university with recycling money.
“We never went to bed on an empty stomach because of this business.
“When I received a request from the recyclers I could not find it in my heart to turn them down because I know from experience they need space to operate.
“We are going to support them and make sure they have all the tools they need to make the business a success,” he says.
