Uploaded May 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
This 10-minute documentary film offers a glimpse into the life and thoughts of two street waste pickers living and working on the streets of Pretoria, South Africa.
Ronnie Phoshoko and Teboho Modiba are two of more than 60 000 individuals in the country working as informal waste recyclers, contributing to the bulk of South Africa's recycling efforts, and putting the country on par with European household waste recycling percentages.
As stated by Dr Melanie Samson, a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at Wits: "The reclaimers collect around 80 to 90 percent of all post-consumer packaging and paper left behind. If they stopped tomorrow, there would be no recycling industry in South Africa."
Despite the pivotal role of waste pickers, South African society generally looks down on them as vagrants or scavengers and they are not seen when passed by on the street. To a degree they become "invisible".
This 10-minute documentary film offers a glimpse into the life and thoughts of two street waste pickers living and working on the streets of Pretoria, South Africa.
Ronnie Phoshoko and Teboho Modiba are two of more than 60 000 individuals in the country working as informal waste recyclers, contributing to the bulk of South Africa's recycling efforts, and putting the country on par with European household waste recycling percentages.
As stated by Dr Melanie Samson, a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at Wits: "The reclaimers collect around 80 to 90 percent of all post-consumer packaging and paper left behind. If they stopped tomorrow, there would be no recycling industry in South Africa."
Despite the pivotal role of waste pickers, South African society generally looks down on them as vagrants or scavengers and they are not seen when passed by on the street. To a degree they become "invisible".
