Rag and bone men

Rag and bone men in Brixton, Johannesburg

Someone said in some online forum that you don't see rag and bone men any more, but you just have to be in the right plasce at the right time. One of those places is outside St Nicholas Church in Brixcton, Johannesburg, and about 5:30 am. On major saints' days (today is St Michael & All Angels, or Michaelmas, as they call it in the west). So we have a service at 6:00 am so people can get to work.

In winter it's dark when the rag and bone men pass, pulling their flattened supermarket trolleys, and you can hear them from a long way away. There are about 7-8 of them passing the Brixton Cemetery, but they split up, and so by the time they get to the church there are only four.And since summer's on its way, this time they passed just after the sun had risen, so I was able to take a picture of them.