Tshwane City taken to court by waste pickers: ‘We were treated like rubbish’

“We were literally treated like the waste we remove from these people’s dustbins every day”.

This is how a community of waste pickers has described its “unlawful eviction” by the City of Tshwane last year from the plot of land they had, up until then, called home – some members, for more than a decade.

The community, represented by Lawyers for Human Rights, has now approached the High Court in Pretoria, asking that the city be ordered to build new living quarters for the 93 people it has left destitute.

It is also seeking damages of R1,500 for each of its members.

The city said the waste pickers never lived on the property, but rather used it as a “waste sorting site” and denied there was ever an “eviction” in the first place.

In papers filed this week, municipal environmental officer Dzudzanani Eugene Mmbadi contended that the waste pickers “were burning waste on-site, causing air pollution”.

In his version, the waste pickers had, in fact, agreed with the owners of the property, the Public Investment Corporation, to remove their waste and to have the city help them.

In his own papers, however, waste picker Chengetanai Shiri was adamant the property constituted their home.

“We need to protect those recyclable materials that still need to get sorted and sold and we, therefore, have to sleep where we work,” he said.

“For this purpose, the community erected about 30 shelters which contained the basic essentials for cooking, such as pots and cutlery, together with some clothing and blankets.”

He said they had now been left homeless.

“We ended up hiding ourselves and our property in bushes at the air force base during the night, where the soldiers – sympathetic to our situation – allowed us to sleep on our trolleys,” said Shiri.

“We now have to drag our trolleys an extra 17km every day, which means we now start work at 3am. The men struggle less with the physical hardship, but our women suffer. They have to be treated for work-related injuries on a regular basis – the trolleys are extremely heavy.”

Of the “eviction” itself, Shiri said the community was told by a city representative it had three days to get out.

Three days later, “the bulldozers came”.

The matter was set down for this week but was struck from the roll, with the court finding it was not urgent. It is expected back in court in March.

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