Minister Barbara Creecy (speech): launch of national waste management (NWM) fleet worth R44,5 million

Minister Barbara Creecy (speech): launch of national waste management (NWM) fleet worth R44,5 million
Collins Chabane Local Municipality, Vhembe District Municipality, Limpopo Province
23 May 2022

Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Honourable Faith Muthambi
MEC of Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, Mr Thabo Mokone
Executive Mayor of Vhembe District Municipality Councillor Nenguda Dowelani
Executive Mayor of Mopani District Municipality Councillor Pule Shayi
Executive Mayor of Collins Chabane Municipality Councillor Moses Maluleke
Executive Mayor of BaPhalaborwa Municipality Councillor Merriam Malatji
Ward Councillors
Management of staff of local, provincial and national government departments
Community members
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning,

South Africa’s Constitution provides all communities with the right to an environment that not harmful to their health and well-being.

Among the greatest threats to the health of our environment and our people is waste pollution. Throughout our country, we are plagued by littering, illegal dumpsites and the scourge of plastic waste that enters our river systems, our wetlands and ultimately our Oceans.

While our country has made significant strides in improving waste Management since 1994, almost a third of households still do not have regular weekly household waste removal services. The result: households are forced to find their own solutions to waste management …solutions that are often damaging to the health of communities and the well- being of our environment.

The National Waste Management Strategy was revised in 2020 and focuses on: improving household waste collection; diverting waste from landfills; promoting a circular economy and promoting community awareness of the effects of illegal dumping on their own health and on the environment.

To achieve the goals of this strategy all of us must play our part: national and provincial government must support municipalities to develop local integrated waste management strategies. We must ensure our landfills comply with the regulatory environment and waste does not leach into ground water or into the soil. We must invest in the yellow fleet and every year we must ensure more and more homes have access to safe waste disposal.

The private sector must promote the circular economy and divert waste from landfills. Government has already set up the regulatory environment for extended producer responsibility schemes to promote re-cycling in the packaging, electronics and lighting industries with recent regulations gazetted for new sectors such as used oil and pesticides.

The regulations for organic waste treatment, and organic waste composting, have also been published for implementation in order to divert waste away from landfills and create new industries.

Communities must begin to separate their waste at home so that waste reclaimers can undertake their work in a dignified manner. Households must teach family members not to litter and must work with their neighbours to prevent illegal dumpsites. All of us must participate in regular clean up campaigns to beautify our communities and protect our environment.

Government and the private sector must work with waste reclaimers so that we build a dignified waste reclaiming industry that promotes waste diversion from landfills, promotes the circular economy and gives a decent livelihood to the tens of thousands of men and women who do the daily back -breaking work of the recycling industry.

Ladies and gentlemen,

As we know, many of our municipalities are struggling to provide regular and consistent waste collection services. Once dumpsites develop, these are not regularly cleared and a number of our landfills do not meet regulatory compliance standards.

To improve waste management in municipalities, the department is assisting in the development of their integrated waste management plans, and training on sustainable waste management practices.

We have also co-operated with National Treasury and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) to change the Municipal Infrastructure Grant Policy so that municipalities can now access this grant to fund their yellow fleet.

To highlight and raise awareness on the amendments of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant Policy, the department has used R42.4 million of our own money to provide 22 vehicles to 19 municipalities across the country. The vehicles include skip loader trucks, front end loaders, compactor trucks and other trucks required to transport waste within these areas.

Today the Collins Chabane Local Municipality is receiving a compactor truck and a skip loader, together valued at more than R5 million to assist in waste collection and the processing of waste at landfill.

Also here in Limpopo, the Ba-Phalaborwa municipality will be provided with a compactor truck and truck loader backhoe, also known as a TLB, while the Mbombela and Bushbuckridge municipalities will each receive a compactor truck and a skiploader.

Other municipalities elsewhere in the country to benefit from the vehicle purchase, include Masilonyana, Matjhabeni, Matzikama, Merafong, Makana, the West Rand, Dannhauser, Dawid Kruiper and Moses Kotane.

Today’s donations follow baseline assessments we have made together with our provincial counterparts to better understand the  waste management challenges and needs of different  municipalities.

Now ladies and gentlemen

They say there is no such thing as a free lunch: well for those of you who are from the Collins Chabane, Ba-Phalaborwa, Mbombela and Bushbuckridge municipalities there is no such thing as a free waste truck.  We of course want something in return.

We want you to attend with urgency to the many complaints my office has received about littering and uncontrolled waste dumps round our flagship national park namely the Kruger Park.

I am therefore asking you to use these vehicles to also regularly clean along the routes to the Kruger National Park so that our domestic and international visitors can see we are proud of our natural assets and our major tourist attractions.

Executive mayors, we are confident that you will make the country proud by maintaining these areas and ensuring they are free of unsightly litter and illegal dumping and that the landfill sites within your municipalities are properly managed, and the vehicles we have provided assist you in achieving that success.

I trust Executive Mayors that, you will make a meaningful impact in addressing waste challenges including waste collection, illegal dumping and landfill site management in your municipalities through these vehicles. One last request: please service them regularly so that they serve you reliably for many years to come!

I thank you.