When things get tough for some, and they simply cannot seem to find a way out of poverty and a full-time job is out of reach, they do not just lie down – they do whatever is necessary to get through.

You might have become accustomed to scavengers going through dustbins on garbage pickup days, and you’ve probably seen many of them with carts filled to the top with recyclable refuse walking down the road.

But, have you considered what they go through just to make a few Rand?

This, it turns out, is not a very lucrative job, especially if you account for the amount of backbreaking work it requires.
“I only make enough money for one day, so I have to go out and look for scrap every day,” Brenden Martins explained.
Brenden, who is still fairly young, only scavenges within the Munsieville area, and rarely goes into Krugersdorp. The News spoke to him while he was sorting through some metal and tin refuse in the Pango encampment, where he lives. This was a dirty job, and his hands were completely covered in dirt, oil and even the black sediment that comes from a fire.

This was a good day for Brenden, though.
“I never find this much. Sometimes I don’t really find enough.” Even this mound of recyclable material will not bring in enough money for him to get through the week, and he’ll have to be up early again and again to do the same.