New system big boost for waste vendors

Safety and better savings value provided by card

LIVING hand-to-mouth is a thing of the past for some waste collectors who generate weekly wages from a paypoint system offered to vendors at the Buy Back Centre in North End.

The waste collecting centre, situated between Big Daddy’s Liquor and the back of the Oriental Plaza, pays for waste in the form of plastic, glass and cardboard, among other recyclable goods. The amounts paid out are loaded onto a maestro card, which can be exchanged once the value reaches R100.

Centre manager Iviwe Sopangisa said the system was aimed at ensuring the safety of vendors and eliminating robberies at the centre.

“We have many vendors coming in and out daily, and the system has helped them spend their money effectively as opposed to living hand-tomouth with the little they may have collected on a daily basis.

“Now they are more inspired to collect more to increase their balance and get more than R100 on their cards.”

Sopangisa said the vendors should have a South African identity document before they can be issued with a card and a pin number known only by the recipient.

“This is to promote safety, so that when people leave here after delivering goods, they are not subject to being mugged by those who may know the nature of their business.

“That is exactly what this is to our vendors – a business they can take pride in,” he said.

Vendor Rita Dumaphi, 55, said since she started recycling cardboard boxes, her livelihood had improved drastically.

“After years of being unemployed and being too young to qualify for the elderly grant, I decided to create my own work opportunities and it has been working for me ever since.

“The new paypoint system has helped me make daily targets and generate weekly wages I set for myself.

“Thanks to the system we get larger sums of money which we can do more important things with, instead of getting just R20 daily and buying bread and milk all the time.

“Recently I bought myself a brand new microwave and a cellphone, and I am currently laying down moneyto buy new corrugated iron to rehabilitate my shack.

“I am an independent person living my life legally through my business.

“So many lives have changed because of this project, because some of us have never received R500 at a time, and this system allows for us to get paid in large amounts and see where our money goes.”