Poverty in Johannesburg South Africa, Joseph Reebe lives along the Jukskei River, which is polluted, and collects scrap metal.
Joseph Reebe has to be careful not to move too much. His bed is constructed from a wall of bricks that has been leveled out with cardboard and thick yellow plastic to sit on the 45 degree slope. He lives under a bridge in Randburg, 10 meters above the Jukskei River and has been doing so for the last three years. Every third day Reebe makes his way down to the river to collect water in a five liter bucket. He then heats it up on an open fire. While he is waiting he walks 500 meters from the campsite, to a bushy wetland where he has hidden his bag. In it is a bar of soap, a tin of shoe polish, a pink washing cloth and a small broken mirror. He has to hide the items from the other 12 men who share the same bridge. The City of Johannesburg’s infrastructure services and environmental committee recently released the findings of its water-quality testing from August to October 2011. The report outlines that water conditions in the Jukskei River were so poor that anyone using water would be exposed to harmful pollutants known to cause headaches and other health issues. The main source of bacterial pollution in the Jukskei River is overcrowding and a lack of sanitation in informal settlement areas said the City of Johannesburg report. According to it, overflowing and leaking sewers are also an endemic problem in most areas of the city and this compromises water quality. Sewage and water pollution are the leading causes of cholera. If not fixed the poor water conditions will also choke environmental wetlands Joseph says he is well aware of the poor water conditions. He can tell from the smell that the water is not safe to drink. But he still does it anyway, because he cannot get it from anywhere else. He also complains that in the mornings when he wakes up the smell gives him headaches. He used to paint houses a month or two ago and now he collects rubbish from bins to recycle. He likes to eat pap it fills him for the day and gives him ‘super energy’ to walk the 1
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Photo credit: © Jay Correia Caboz / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: africa, african, beanie, black, bush, destitute, economy, environmental, field, hygiene, johannesburg, male, person, poor, poverty, report, river, single, south, sunrise, walking, wash, water, wild
