When Rosina Letsoalo started collecting pieces of metal to sell to scrapyard dealers in 1976, she did not take it seriously – it was just another way of supplementing her low-paying domestic job. Now she will not swop it for anything.
These days she collects empty cans, which she sells to Collect-a-Can, and her reasons for being so passionate about this seemingly ignominious activity are obvious: because of it Letsoalo has managed to feed, clothe and put her five children through school, up to matric. And she has created employment for seven local people.
“I am happy that I have been able to achieve this through a kind of job that most people despise. It has not been easy to see these kids through school. This is an achievement some people can only dream about,” says Letsoalo.
All her children, except the youngest who is still at school, are employed and fending for themselves. “My firstborn is a cashier at a sorghum beer outlet in Pretoria, my second child works for a paving-brick company in Limpopo, the third has just completed his matric and wants to join the army, while the fourth is working for one of the big local banks. The last one is in grade seven,” says Letsoalo.
Sixty-year-old Letsoalo was born and bred in an area of Pretoria formerly known as Lady Selborne (it is now called Suiderberg). She dropped out of school at an early age because her mother, a domestic worker, could not afford to pay for her schooling. She was forced to get a job as a housemaid. The salary was poor and collecting and selling scrap metal became her way of augmenting it.
“At the time they were paying between R27 and R30 a bag. People would come to me with bits of iron and I would pay them with a cupful of salt,” recalls Letsoalo. When her family left Pretoria and settled in Maubane village in Hammanskraal, she continued with what she knows best. In 1991 she forged a relationship with the local Collect-a-Can depot and the pay improved.
“Collect-a-Can pays better than those guys in Pretoria. Instead of paying us per bag, they weigh each load and pay per kilogram. For steel cans we get R2,20, and R3,60 for those made of aluminium,” she says.
The opening of Carousel Casino not far from her village worked in her favour. With throngs of gamblers visiting the casino, she was assured of mountains of cans most of the time. It brought a measure of success in that Letsoalo could turn her “odd job” into a formalised operation. Soon things fell into place and not only has she created jobs for the locals, but the chief of the village has donated a piece of land to serve as a workstation. She can even afford to hire a machine that neatly compresses and packages the cans.
Despite dropping out of school at an early age, Letsoalo values education. She has developed a close working relationship with local schools, donating a percentage of her profit to those in need of help. “The schools we donate to are those with poor infrastructure. But we do not only make a donation, we also educate learners about the need to keep their environment clean by helping us collect cans,” says Letsoalo.
The first school to benefit from her generosity was the nearby Dooka Primary School, whose principal was helpful in introducing Letsoalo to the casino manager, making it easy for her to access empty cans. “After a year or so the school got a handsome donation for refurbishment,” laughs Lesoalo. “We then turned out attention to Mmatlhane Primary School.” She says they are now involved with a school for the disabled.
Moses Chauke (34) began working for Letsoalo in 2005. “I was unemployed for a very long time. After doing odd jobs in the village, I heard about this project and decided there and then to join her,” he says. Since then, Chauke has been able to pay for his child’s créche fees and he is able to provide for other basic needs.
Employee Thabo Hika tells his story: “I used to be involved in crime and was once arrested for robbery. I had no sense of direction at all and I seemed destined for total failure in life.”
He says since he joined Letsoalo last year, he is at peace with himself and is more responsible. “I will always be grateful to her. I wish her business will grow even stronger.”