Recyclers, global firm fight for junk
Pickers injured as Red Ants step in for Averda
A group of Gauteng informal waste pickers are at loggerheads with a multinational company after they were barred from working on a landfill site in Johannesburg.
Yesterday some of the waste pickers accused waste management company Averda of unfair treatment after it approached the courts to stop them from entering the Genesis landfill site.
Last week the Red Ants security company was called in to remove the waste pickers from the property. The guards are also accused of assaulting and robbing 20 people.
The group opened a criminal case at the Johannesburg Central police station.
Yesterday Goodman Mamba, 31, who said he had been working at the landfill site since 2004, alleged their belongings, including phones and money, were taken.
He said the company that had previously run the site had allowed them to pick waste there and their problems had only started when Averda took over.
“We just want things to go back to normal so that we can work for our families.”
Mamba said he used to make more than R2 000 a month but now his earnings had decreased drastically.
Nomzamo Zondo of the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of SA said they were asked to give the community legal assistance after people were allegedly beaten up, robbed and arrested. Zondo said Averda had been granted a court order against the pickers who, however, had not been served with the papers.
Red Ants chief operations officer Fuzile Balintulo said they were not aware of the allegations of theft, and that the company would enquire about the allegations from relevant SAPS and JMPD units which were part of the operation.
Yesterday Averda, in a statement, said the company approached the high court for an urgent interdict after violent clashes between waste pickers erupted on the site.
The company said heavily armed people would illegally enter the premises at night, steal and vandalisde property.
“Averda SA does not in any way condone allegations of violent actions taken against the waste pickers. We cannot comment or provide any clarity on what has transpired outside of our Genesis landfill site; we hope for a peaceful solution to the situation.”
The company said the case was still ongoing and it returns to court on July 16.
Captain Xoli Mbele could only confirm one case of assault.