Four years later in August 2012, Nqobile Maphumulo, a teenage waste picker from Cinderella Park Township, was tragically killed by a waste truck [2]. Prior to this, groundWork and waste pickers linked to the South African Waste Pickers Association (SAWPA), had been pressuring Msunduzi Local Municipality to sign a 2011 agreement which would open the door for uMgungundlovu District Municipality to begin construction on a materials recovery facility (MRF) [2]. The district had been working successfully with the waste pickers to secure R21 million from the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) in order to build the MRF and formally employ the majority of waste pickers already working on the landfill in safer working conditions a distance away from the actual dumpsite [2].  Musa Chamane, groundWork’s Waste Campaign manager, noted that, “If the MRF had been fully approved by the local council Maphumulo’s death would not have happened [2].”

Move ahead two years later to August 2014 and the death of waste picker Killer Majola and severe crippling of Sindi Shange by a landfill compactor sparks a furor among local waste pickers [3]. The preventability of this death was again noted by SAWPA member Nonhlanhla Mhlophe, who said this death would not have occurred had the MRF been constructed because there would have been nobody on the site. “Msunduzi does not want to give the land” [3]. Others noted how the recycling companies who make a lot of money from waste pickers were not intervening to help them work in better conditions. groundWork’s waste campaign manager Musa Chamane claimed that while the beneficiaries of the MRF would be the Hlanganani ma-Afrika waste cooperative of reclaimers in the City, “the municipal manager felt that the recycling business should be given to a private organisation instead of a cooperative.” He went on to say that, “More than 100 jobs are bound to be created by the MRF and Msunduzi will not spend a cent...they are refusing to give the go ahead to the district, instead they sign backdoor contracts” [3].

In December 2014, after three years of waiting for the construction of the MRF at the New England Road landfill site, approximately 500 waste pickers took to the streets once again, targeting CoGTA’s neglectful oversight over local and district municipalities in Pietermaritzburg, who had been ignoring their responsibilities in the prior MRF agreement [4]. While Msunduzi Local Municipality had allocated land next to the landfill site for construction, the uMgungundlovu District Municipality had still not indicated any intention of beginning the project since 2011, despite site hand over and the district’s appointment of a construction company to oversee the project [4]. About 80 members of the local waste pickers cooperative, as well as members of groundWork and SAWPA, joined in solidarity with rest of the landfill waste pickers in handing over a memorandum to CoGTA, UMgungundlovu and Msunduzi municipalities [4].  Simon Mbatha, SAWPA spokesperson speaking on behalf of the more than 700 waste pickers at the site, commented on the local government’s contradictory inaction: “The current government speaks of job creation, however if the municipality cannot see this as a way of creating job opportunities for its local people, I don’t know what else will. We need answers.” [5].

Both municipalities found to be involved in corruption before, and while this project had the potential to make up for that, both politicians and officials were not willing to deliver [6]. No one is coming out to say why they have not followed through. And because it makes little sense for city officials to refuse the implementation of a project with funding already allocated, waste pickers and their affiliated organizations can only keep asking where the money has gone [6]. The delay in the MRF’s construction has also sparked friction amongst cooperative members, with some members suspicious that their leadership is not telling them the truth [6]. Because the condition at the landfills is worsening, some members have left the landfill and are instead collecting from the streets of Pietermaritzburg. To make matters worse, during this time it became known that the Msunduzi Municipality would consider building a waste-to-energy incineration facility, which would compete with the MRF and other waste recycling projects [6]. Municipal waste incineration has proven to be an expensive and unsustainable waste management option that generates unnecessary combustion, while waste recycling has many benefits for the environment and for the people of Pietermaritzburg. Not only does it help save landfill space and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by limiting waste decomposition [7], but it also provides an opportunity to integrate marginalized waste pickers into the formal waste management system.

On November 10th, 2015, Nonhlanhla Mhlophe issued a memorandum to city officials on behalf of the landfill’s waste pickers and SAWPA. In it she expressed sadness concerning Msunduzi Mayor Chris Ndlela’s endorsement of using pellet guns to force waste pickers off the landfill, and mentioned that the security guards hired by the Municipality are criminalizing people who seek to make a legitimate livelihood from people’s waste. The memorandum concludes with: “We have called for a meeting with officials from both municipal officials to address our concerns but we have been ignored. We therefore call on the Msunduzi Local Municipality to:

Ensure that maintains Pietermaritzburg is an incinerator-free city; Start building an MRF as soon as possible; Ensure that the waste pickers will not be barred from earning a livelihood from the landfill site; Ensure all future developments on the dump will only occur after participation and consensus has been reached with the waste pickers; Urgently set up a meeting with the waste pickers and relevant NGO’s to address the above concerns [7]”

The next day, on November 11th, more than 100 waste pickers from Sobantu, Hammarsdale and Cinderella Park protested after a city executive committee meeting decided to stop waste picking at the landfill, citing safety and security concerns [8]. The South African Waste Pickers’ Association, the Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action, Groundwork, Energy Action Group and the Duzi uMngeni Conservation Trust in Pietermaritzburg were also part of the protest. That morning, Msunduzi’s mayor and municipal manager had both denied the request made for them to meet the frustrated waste pickers at the main gate, and instead the mayor attended a medal parade for the South African Police Service (SAPS) at the Royal Showgrounds [9]. Protesters began gathering at both of the landfill’s gates at 6AM, where branches, tires and other materials were set alight and blocked the entry of dump trucks [9]. The peaceful protest was met with a violent response. After approximately 20 SAPS officers gathered, blocked off the roads and requested that the crowd disperse, a gas canister and rubber bullets were shot into the crowd, injuring five people [9]. About 20 protesters were arrested, including groundWork director Bobby Peek and groundWork waste campaigner Musa Chamane, only to be released the same day [10].

As waste pickers continue to urge the municipality for better treatment and integration into the waste management system, the responses of city officials has been contradictory. Around the time of the 2015 protest, in an email correspondence with groundWork, Sunjoy Ramu Raghunandan, the deputy municipal manager of infrastructure in Msunduzi, claimed that, “We as the landfill management do not support the restriction of the tip [waste] pickers’ activities so long as they are prepared to work with us and to keep the site where they store their materials clean. We certainly do not want security to shoot anyone on site” [11]. At the same time he also claimed that the security company has their own plan to regulate the activities of the waste pickers, and that it would be done in a “humane and organised manner [11].” This has yet to realized, perhaps municipal manager Mxolisi Nkosi has been the most honest city official by stating that “... probably down the line there might be a way of benetting [from the MRF] but then I would be lying to you if I was to say our waste-to-energy project will benefit waste pickers” [11].

In the meantime, little has changed for waste pickers at the New England Road Landfill, and the site remains as dangerous as ever. In March 2018, a young woman waste picker from Lesotho [12] was killed by a trash compactor after being caught by the heavy suction of the machine [13]. It is time that the City finally constructs the MRF facility, but until then protests and resistance will continue.