TRASH, TURF AND TENSIONS: Inside the recycling wars of Turffontein
By Sitha Maliwa
Waste pickers walking the street (Image: Facebook)
On the dusty stretch of TuTurfontein Road in Johannesburg, trash isn’t just garbage - it’s gold. Amid the towering mounds of waste and the rhythmic clatter of trollies pushed by calloused hands, a silent war rages, driven by desperation, survival, and the promise of profit.
What began as a simple hustle - sorting through discarded waste to find treasures worth selling - has ballooned into a booming, multi-million rands industry. At the heart of this growing business are the recyclers: men and women who transform trash into cash by collecting and selling items like copper, steel, batteries, and plastic to make a living.
But the riches buried in the city’s refuse have come at a cost. Two rival groups - lar...