The unknown man was tipped into the compactor from the large container he made his carton-box bed in.

Little did he know, that while the rest of  Middelburg is in slumber land at around 05:30 in the mornings, the municipality’s refuse removal team is up and at it, ridding the town of litter.

The cleaning team arrived at its first stop at around 06:00, blissfully unaware of the sleeping man in the container opposite Checkers in John Magagula Street.

The container was tipped out into the compactor before the team headed to the container at the old Home Affairs offices.

From there they headed back to John Magagula Street where a second container, about 200 metres from the one in which the man made his bed, had to be emptied.

The team was however interrupted by frantic screams emanating from the compactor and upon closer inspection, the man was found unscathed.

Police were notified and upon their arrival found the man walking about.

He quickly vanished before the Observer’s arrival on the scene.

The Observer revisited the scene, hoping to find the lucky escapee who was unlucky enough to choose the container which the municipality emptied first.

His ten minute excursion in the garbage compactor could have ended at the dumping site, with his lifeless body tipped onto a mountain of trash, where it may never have been found.

During the Observer’s second visit, another homeless soul, Mr Petrus Thobane, told the newspaper that the man was later admitted to the Middelburg Hospital with injuries, the nature of which could not be confirmed.

“He drinks spirits to beat the cold and often makes himself a bed in a container, covering himself with boxes,” Mr Thobane told the paper.

A refuse removal team close on the heels of the compactor, sighed with relief upon hearing that the man got out alive.

A supervisor told the Observer that they will now first have to look into each of the containers before emptying them, as to avoid a repetition of the drama now that it’s winter.

• Since the man’s identity is unknown, even to Mr Thobane, his movement at the Middelburg Hospital could not be traced or confirmed.