'Wasters, agnostics, enforcers, competitors, and community integrators': Reclaimers, S@S, and the five types of residents in Johannesburg, South Africa

Samson, Melanie; Kadyamadare, Grace; Ndlovu, Lufuno; Kalina, Marc

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105733

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…For instance, Storey ( 2020 ) examines neoliberal formations of the city in Cape Town as ‘discourses of blame’, framing the interactions of the poor with waste, such as dumping, as irresponsible and illegal, and implying that residents are to blame for service limitations, justifying further restrictions and reinforcing historic spatial inequality. Likewise, the commodification of waste, and the opening of recycling markets to private companies in Johannesburg, has contributed to the dispossession of informal waste workers, transferring their livelihoods to formal actors (Samson, 2011 , 2020 ; Samson et al, 2022 ), a phenomenon that has also been observed globally (Dinler, 2016 ; Hartmann, 2018 ; Luthra, 2019 , 2020 ).…”

Section: Situating Municipal Failurementioning

confidence: 99%

“The rich will always be able to dispose of their waste”: a view from the frontlines of municipal failure in Makhanda, South Africa

Kalina,

Makwetu,

Tilley

2023

Environ Dev Sustain

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A significant proportion of South African municipalities, who hold the mandate for providing solid waste management (SWM) services for millions of South Africans, appear to be on the brink of collapse. On the frontlines of municipal failure, the city of Makhanda, following two decades of poor governance and mismanagement, has found itself unable to fulfil its mandate, with the state retreating on SWM service provision, and disruptions to waste management services becoming a daily reality. Drawing on embedded, qualitative fieldwork, this article examines how differently placed residents have experienced disruptions to SWM services. This work explores how residents of Makhanda’s two halves: the affluent and predominantly white neighbourhoods in the west, and the poor, non-white townships in the east, have (or have not) adapted to manage and dispose of their own waste during periods of disruption. Findings suggest that disruptions to waste management service provision have been broadly experienced by residents. However, the consequences of interruptions to municipal collection have not been evenly borne, as more resourced, western residents have been more successful at managing their own waste disposal, while the residents of Makhanda’s townships are less capable of coping, with affected communities coming to resemble a dumping ground, and residents having to adopt unsafe or environmentally harmful disposal practices. These findings are important because they shed light on the challenges of creating cleaner, more equal communities without healthy municipal participation in waste management services, while raising important considerations for a South Africa facing the possibility of widespread municipal collapse.

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Section: Situating Municipal Failurementioning

confidence: 99%

“The rich will always be able to dispose of their waste”: a view from the frontlines of municipal failure in Makhanda, South Africa

Kalina,

Makwetu,

Tilley

2023

Environ Dev Sustain

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“…The role of informal reclaimers in laying the foundations of South Africa's recycling economy cannot be denied. Long before policy discussions in South Africa featured the concept of recycling, reclaimers In Johannesburg and other municipalities established a 'separation outside source' process to separate, salvage and revalue recyclable items that residents discarded as part of their garbage (Samson 2022).…”

Section: Brief Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a circular economy: A cross-case analysis of recycling in three South African towns

Pretorius

Blaauw

Schenck

et al. 2023

Development Southern Africa

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The concept of circular economy includes three aspects from a human perspective, namely Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Studying human behaviour is important in understanding and evaluating the possible success of any of the three elements. We explored the link between household waste practices and local governments' ability to provide proper waste management, as stipulated in the South African Constitution, as well as the factors linked to different waste management practices through a crosscase analysis using a mixed-method research design. Households in Calvinia, Philippolis and Polokwane handle waste differently due to different levels of municipal waste services rendered and the availability of local recycling options. Most households in all three towns indicated their willingness to take part in recycling. Surprisingly, the level of household income has no statistically significant impact on waste behaviour. On the other hand, the one factor that does impact on waste behaviour is the inclusion of recycling projects in school curricula.

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“…Under the Labor Relations Act (Republic of South Africa, 1995, Section 213), an employee is defined as “any person, excluding an independent contractor, who works for another person or for the State and who receives, or is entitled to receive, any remuneration.” By this definition, CHWs appear to qualify as employees under South African law. Yet, as Samson (2008) notes, a great deal of confusion remains in the sector, and most CHWs continue to be referred to as volunteers and receive a stipend in place of a wage.…”

Section: Demographic and Policy Context For Community Health Work In ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

South African community health workers' pursuit of occupational security

Ruit

Breckenridge

2022

Gender Work & Organization

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Community health workers (CHWs) are central to the global health response to crises like the AIDS epidemic. Yet community health work remains undervalued and undercompensated worldwide owing in large part to the gendered and racialized contexts of care work. This paper investigates the possibility of occupational security for CHWs by comparing two cases from South Africa's response to AIDS. The first draws on ethnographic research (2007–2009) in rural KwaZulu‐Natal province and documents the fraught formation of a union representing CHWs. The second examines legal action in the Free State province for a group of CHWs known as the Bophelo House 94, who were arrested and criminally charged in June 2014 after protesting their sudden dismissal by the government. This case comparison finds that collective action has thus far had limited effects on CHWs' position as a nascent occupation. The South African Ministry of Health has obstructed CHW professionalization, and non‐state actors' involvement has been a mixture of benefit and impediment: some social justice agencies have facilitated CHW advocacy, while many AIDS service organizations have cooperated with the state and exacerbated the precarity of CHWs' working conditions. However, the consolidation of CHW work roles—owing to advances in AIDS prevention and treatment—holds promise for future CHW collective organization.

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'Wasters, agnostics, enforcers, competitors, and community integrators': Reclaimers, S@S, and the five types of residents in Johannesburg, South Africa

Cited by 5 publications

References 32 publications

“The rich will always be able to dispose of their waste”: a view from the frontlines of municipal failure in Makhanda, South Africa

“The rich will always be able to dispose of their waste”: a view from the frontlines of municipal failure in Makhanda, South Africa

Towards a circular economy: A cross-case analysis of recycling in three South African towns

South African community health workers' pursuit of occupational security

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