For many residents of nearby informal settlements, salvaging from the rubble at the Edenvale Quarry has become their only means of survival.
Mr Alwyn Smit, who works near the quarry in Meadowdale, has raised several safety concerns regarding the informal recyclers at the quarry.
Mr Smit said dozens of informal recyclers arrive at the site to sort through building rubble each day in the hopes of finding scrap metal and plastic to re-sell.
“What worries me is that there are small children running around the area. There are large trucks constantly driving in and out and I am concerned something terrible will happen,” he said.
While frowned upon by many and faced with increasing dangers, informal recyclers flock to the quarry to collect materials which they resell for pittance.
Making less than R100 per day, this is considered by many to be an honest living.
“We do not steal. We are just making a living,” said one woman, who was on-site.
She travels from the Makuse Informal Settlement daily, often leaving her shack early in the morning.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said she also brings her daughter with.
“She is almost two, I cannot leave her at home in the shack,” she said.
She added that some days there are more people on-site than others and it is not uncommon to see mothers with their children collecting materials.
“Sometimes we have to fight to get what we need. If you do not get enough scrap metal, your family will not eat,” she said.
It is believed that building rubble has been brought in to fill the quarry to ready the site for construction.
For months, residents who grew up visiting the quarry have been up in arms with regards to the proposed development.
Former ward 92 councillor, Clr Graham Gersbach, said the land is zoned for industrial use.
“The site is known as Remainder of Portion 521 of the farm Rietfontein 63 IR. In terms of the Germiston Town Planning Scheme, 1985, the site is zoned as Industrial 2,” he said.
He added that in terms of the zoning, industrial and warehouse uses may be established on the property.
“Mr Desmond Sweke, the consulting town planner who acts on behalf of the registered property owner, has contacted me recently in this regard. Apparently the registered owner intends to fill the quarry and establish industrial uses on the site,” said Clr Gersbach.
