Turning trash into treasure
Plastic bottles and tins keep food on table
BATTLING to make ends meet, Phyllis Sokutu of Booysen Park, Port Elizabeth, collects rubbish from her neighbourhood and sells it to earn enough money to buy food and pay her children’s school fees.
The 57-year-old unemployed mother of five has scoured the neighbourhood three days a week for the last six years, collecting plastic, plastic bottles and cans to sell at buy-back cen- tres in Port Elizabeth. Depending on the weight and items, for every four bags she would easily receive between R400 and R800.
“Before I collected rubbish, I did piece jobs – cleaning homes and sweeping people’s stoeps.
“When I heard you can get money if you turn in your rubbish, I started collecting, hoping I will make more money to look after my children. I already had my youngest taken away from me because I’m poor,” she said.
“The money from the rubbish was enough to feed my family and keep my children in school. We are struggling a little now, however, as I don’t have transport to take my bags to my usual buy-back centre in Korsten.”
Sokutu turned the front yard of her three-room house in Lombard Street into an open-air shed where she sorts her items.
“I used to collect papers and cardboard too, but three times since 2010, people came to burn it. Luckily no one got hurt, but the community doesn’t understand why my front yard looks like it does with recyclable items all over.
“If I had the transport or a proper shed, it would be easier to manage,” she said.
For the people of Lombard Street, however, Sokutu’s home is an eyesore.
“If only the community could understand that this is what I have to do to survive,” she said.
“When you are a mother, you do what you need to do against all odds. I had a one-room house in Veeplaas that I struggled to get off my name. It wasn’t big enough even for animals.
“I moved here with my kids hoping it will go better. Though most months I can’t afford to pay the water and electricity, collecting rubbish keeps our mouths open and our tummies full.”
She said although many had warned her scouring the bush on her own was dangerous, it was the only time she had for herself.
“It’s almost like therapy,” she said.
“You get to compare your life with the rubbish along the way. Some can be used, others are seen to have no worth.
“But what some find useless, I find precious. After all, rubbish has become our lifeline.”
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