- Retired packer Lazarus Moilwa from Pimville collects bottles and cans to survive after his small spaza shop business failed.
- He earns about R5,000 a month from recycling but says rising food prices make it hard to support his family.
After 34 years of hard work as a packer in Midrand, Lazarus Moilwa from Pimville thought retirement would bring rest. Instead, he now spends his days collecting bottles and cans to survive.
He retired hoping to run a small spaza shop, but the business failed. “After the business failed, I started collecting glass bottles to recycle. I had to break them before taking them in,” he said.
Moilwa soon realised he could make money buying and reselling Long Tom beer bottles. “I buy them for R1 each and sell them in bulk for R2,” he said. “From the beer bottles alone, I make about R12 per crate, and I usually sell around 10 crates.”
Most of his income, though, comes from recycling cans, plastic and glass. A full sack of cans brings in about R2,000, plastic bottles around R320, and broken glass R40. “It takes me two weeks to fill 60 to 80 kilograms of material,” he said.
Altogether, Moilwa earns about R5,000 a month – far less than what he used to make at work. After paying for basics and his R380 funeral policy, there’s little left to save.
“I used to buy R3,000 worth of groceries, meat included. Now that amount doesn’t cover everything,” he said.
His family has cut costs by reusing teabags and buying cheaper unsliced bread from Shoprite.
Moilwa starts work early, often at 4am. “Many people come to recycle, so you have to be early,” he said. “It’s dangerous because I’m scared of getting robbed.”
Pictured above: A recycler.
Image source: UNICEF
