The Work and Lives of Street Waste Pickers in Pretoria—A Case Study of Recycling in South Africa’s Urban Informal Economy

摘要

High levels of unemployment are a permanent feature in the urban areasof many developing countries. South Africa is no exception in this regard. Povertyand hardship caused by unemployment force many participants in the labour marketto venture into the urban informal economy in order to survive. The activities of thewaste pickers fall within the urban informal economy. In spite of the fact that wastepickers are a common sight in the urban areas of Pretoria and other South Africancities, remarkably little is known about them and scant attention is paid to them. Theaim of the study was to establish a socio-economic profile of the street waste pickersin Pretoria and to describe the social interaction and relationship dynamics betweenthe waste pickers and their families, each other, the community and buy-backcentres. This was done by conducting the first ever empirical study of the streetwaste pickers in Pretoria. The results revealed that the role of street waste pickers inthe broader waste management system is an important public issue that requiresurgent attention and appropriate policy responses from policy makers.