Ubuntu on the street(s): relationships and relationship(ing)dynamics among waste players in Glenwood, Durban, SouthAfrica

Abstract

The South African waste management ecosystem is characterisedby competition and rivalry between the formal and informalsectors. Although this dynamic has been widely documented, it istoo often presented as binary, with one sector standing incontrast and opposition to the other, a characterisation thatoverlooks the everyday realities of waste workers. Drawing onethnographic research in eThekwini Municipality (Durban, SouthAfrica), this article reveals the complexities and nuances of theserelationship dynamics. Specifically, we identify alternativerealities, framed as humane encounters, between waste pickers,residents, the city’s Cleansing and Solid Waste Unit (CSW) andamong waste pickers themselves. Focusing on the middle-incomesuburb of Glenwood, we draw on notions of ubuntu to explorehow these relationships are forged and sustained in everyday life.Findings reveal that waste pickers build friendships, businesspartnerships, strategic relationships and networks that enablethem to navigate the city, maximise their earnings and cultivatereciprocal relationships with residents and frontline municipalworkers. This story matters because accounts of informal wastepickers in South Africa remain incomplete without acknowledgingthe gestures of love, ethics of care and communal practices thatalso shape their everyday lives. Read through the lens of ubuntu,these everyday encounters invite a different understanding ofwaste picker integration, one that is forged through relationshipsbefore it is institutionalised through policy and begins, first andforemost, on the ground, human to human.