MY VISIT TO BEKEZELA: WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR RECYCLING
On Saturday, Luyanda Hlatshwayo from ARO took me to Bekezela which is an area that used to be an old school in Newtown and is now inhabited by 1000+ people, most of whom are reclaimers and their families. Bekezela is series of dilapidated buildings that people have turned into homes. It is like a little village. Bekezela used to be dangerous but people like Luyanda and other community members have brought opposing groups together, brought in partners to help with sustainable gardens and other needs and fought off the Red Ants who burned belongings and raped the women.
The community now has a court order, allowing them to keep living at Bekezela. Some children were born in this community and are now young adults. They don’t know any other home.
There are open courtyard type spaces and there are signs of people having the spent the evenings together in these spaces. There was even a corner allocated outside of the central area called “Exile” which was for members of the community who are drug addicts or alcoholics. The community didn’t want to kick them out and leave them homeless, but they are separated to ensure the children are kept safe. There was a sense of peaceful contentment as people went about their daily weekend tasks of washing (by accessing the 6 taps installed for the entire community), tending to the community garden, cooking and relaxing. On Sundays everybody cleans to make sure that the space is neat and as hygienic as possible considering the limited utilities.
On the day of my visit, many of the men had taken their weekly supply of recycling material to the buyback centre to sell, to make sure they have a bit of money for food for the week. All the recycling is sorted just outside the community buildings. And I laughed when some members of the community complained that somebody had left their bag in a spot where it wasn’t supposed to be and was creating an unsightly view for their neighbours. The community views on mess are not all that different to Bordeaux! Generally, the women have odd jobs in Johannesburg, and some are responsible for looking after the children. But people work together and look out for one another.
The recycling collected in Bordeaux generates approximately R3500 each week and this reaches between 15-20 people in the collecting and sorting process and their families. This means our “rubbish” provides approximately R175 per week per family to buy food and supplies. For some, this bit of income provides capital to start small businesses selling food and supplies to neighbours. Every piece of material is used - either sent for recycling or fixed to be sold on or recreated into something for a new purpose. Not one scrap of paper is left behind and unaccounted for.
I visited the community because we are working with ARO to set up a play school for the 30 odd young children who live here and currently have no formal area to play or learn. There was a little boy of about 4 kicking around a punctured ball and that was the only sign of a toy for the children.
The community has identified about 5 or so women who will be trained to run the play school, ensuring it is a nurturing and educational environment. There was a sense of excitement at the idea and hope for their children and even future job possibilities with this training. We have already received donations of resources to get the school started and hope to gather more supplies to ensure the children have an exciting and stimulating space.
Life is just not fair. The people here are doing the best they can considering the opportunities and resources at their disposal and yet I left this community feeling like I had learned far more from them than I could ever share myself. It is a communal home, a friendly space and sustainable living approach. The rest of the country could learn a lot from a community like this instead of frowning at informal settlements.
