Any gold in there today?” Ezekiel Mabhiza shouted to a man hunched over a trash mound, hoe in hand, as they rummaged through one of the many illegal dumpsites littering Zimbabwe’s capital.
Soon, Mabhiza joined in. For hours, he scoured Harare’s dumpsites, using a stick or his bare hands to sift through piles of discarded diapers, broken appliances, and rotting waste. By midday, his pushcart was full: springs from old mattresses, rusty car parts, tin cans, and scrap metal, weighing 66 kilograms (145 pounds) in total.
The day’s haul earned him just $8 — enough to feed his five children for the day, and maybe even cover a utility bill in a country where most people survive through informal work.
“I have given up looking for a formal job,” said the 36-year-old. “You walk the industrial areas all day and come back with nothing. This is my job now. I pay rent, my children eat, and they go to school.”
