Groundup reports that a waste picker was killed by a trash compactor vehicle at the New England landfill site in Pietermaritzburg.  Nswaki Mahlakwane died on the scene when she was caught in the machine on 14 March.  

Due to a strike at the morgue, her body was only collected at about 10pm that night.  Her distraught younger brother, also a waster picker, said:  “It was the worst experience ever.  She was my older sister.  Seeing her helpless body lying on the dump for hours tarnished me.  I could not leave her.”  Mahlakwane was 56 and came from Lesotho.  She had been working as a waste picker on the landfill site since 2015 and lived in Swapo informal settlement.  Msunduzi municipality spokesperson Thobeka Mafumbatha said Mahlakwane was accidentally knocked over.  “The matter was reported to SAPS and emergency services.  The operator as well as other waste pickers were attended to.  They received counselling‚” said Mafumbatha.  A case of culpable homicide has been opened.

• Read this report by Nompendulo Ngubane in full at GroundUp

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