Gogo Anna is one of many people in Soweto who depend on leftovers of meat to feed their families.
“Inhloko yenkoma (cow head)leftovers have kept my family alive for years,” said gogo Anna Nenadzinili (67) from Pomolong,in Soweto.
The SunTeam spotted her and other residents at a dump peeling off meat left on the bones.
When the team approached the site, the smell wasn’t pleasant. But that didn’t stop the people from peeling off the scraps.
“We are poor. We are not working. This is the only way we can provide isishebo for our families,” said Simon Zwane (42), from Mzimhlophe.
He said he’s been unemployed for about six years.
Gogo Anna told Daily Sun she goes to the dump every afternoon to wait for the bakkie that dumps the inhloko bones.
“Once it has dropped them, I go with other people to peel off the meat that was left when the inhloko sellers in town took what they could sell and threw away the bones.”
Gogo Anna said in a day she peels off enough meat to feed her family of 10. She said she first washes the meat properly before they eat it.
“It’s better in winter because the weather is not so hot. When the bones get here, they are still fresh.
“But in summer, the inhloko sellers peel their meat in the morning and by the time the bones get here, they are smelly.”
However, gogo Anna said with a good wash, the smell quickly disappears.
“It’s better than going to bed on an empty stomach.”
Gogo Anna said all she has to worry about is buying maize meal.
She said she has been poor for many years.
“I stay in a one-roomed shack with my children and their children.
“The shack’s condition is not pleasant at all. I applied for a house in 2002 but I’m still waiting.
Sometimes I feel like God brought me into this world to suffer.”
Jabulani Sibeko (35) said the bones were collected in Jozi and dumped at the field to dry before being taken to Roodeport for recycling.