The African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO) has asked the public to appeal the proposed R50 recycling fee that they say threatens reclaimers’ livelihoods.
The City of Johannesburg plans to introduce the fee from 1 July if its proposed waste management tariff is approved.
ARO coordinator and organiser, Eli Kodisang said informal recyclers are responsible for 90 per cent of recycling in Joburg, yet they will not receive a cent from the tariff.
Instead, money will go towards Pikitup’s separation at the source (S@S) program.
“Government’s national policy shows they want to integrate recyclers, support them and make them more effective like it is done in other countries around the world,” Kodisang said.
“But the City of Johannesburg is going against the informal sector. It was in 2017 when the City employed private companies to compete with the reclaimers, that reclaimers had to start occupying public spaces and sort waste closer to the sites. Pollution and problems between residents and reclaimers only started then.”
He said the City should rather support reclaimers by looking at ways to improving their modes of travel or recycling methods.
“The landfills are almost full,” he continued.
“If it were not for reclaimers, Joburg would be in a bad place. Reclaimers are needed now more than ever.”
ARO has an online petition against the tariff that can be signed here https://awethu.amandla.mobi/petitions/stop-johannesburg-s-r50-recycling-fee-that-threatens-reclaimers-livelihood-ib
ARO can be contacted through its Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/africanreclaimers
Through a partnership with residents in Bordeaux, the organisation has already implemented a separate recyclable waste collection that is done weekly and independently from Pikitup.
The Bordeaux South Residents Association approves of this system and estimates that 60 per cent of residents in the area are recycling in this way.
