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Picture: 123RF
Picture: 123RF

The attempt by the acting CEO of the government’s Waste Bureau, Masopha Moshoeshoe, to defend the disastrous management of SA’s waste tyres by the department of forestry, fisheries & environment cannot remain unanswered, especially because Moshoeshoe attempts to resurrect a false narrative about the Recycling & Economic Development Initiative of SA (Redisa). (“Setting the record straight on waste management”, January 25).

The way Moshoeshoe goes about this is an example of the misinformation and obstinacy that has unfortunately come to characterise so much of the government’s approach to waste management. It is disappointing that nothing seems to have changed in this regard under the new minister, Dion George. 

Moshoeshoe accuses Redisa of “significant governance failures and systemic mismanagement” when it handled waste tyres from 2012 to 2017. These types of attacks on Redisa, unsupported by any proof, were initiated by controversial Zuma-appointed environment minister Edna Molewa in 2016.

Ironically, it was Redisa’s success that made it a target of the government, not its “failures”. This success was so evident that it drew the attention of members of the state during the Zuma years. Redisa’s independence brought it into conflict with the compromised and corrupt government of the day. False claims of corruption were then levelled at the Redisa management, all in an attempt to bring waste tyre management (and its immense levy-based funding mechanisms) directly under government control.

When attempts to “capture” Redisa were rebuffed, Molewa, by way of retribution, approached the court to liquidate Redisa. Then ensued a legal, political and media storm, with the truth being the first victim.

The truth is that Redisa was a world-class and law-abiding company. It was fully exonerated by a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling in January 2019. The court’s comprehensive judgment called the liquidation order against Redisa, obtained by the department of environmental affairs, “patently unlawful” and a violation of Redisa’s constitutional rights.

The government must realise that it cannot effectively centralise and then dominate the waste industry through its actions as the Waste Bureau.

The SCA judgment lambasted the procedural grounds of Molewa’s attack, stating: “The procedure adopted is even more objectionable if the applicant’s case rests largely on untested hearsay, which it was in this case.” The SCA also referenced a directive issued by Molewa in an attempt to take control of Redisa, which judge Dennis Davis of the Western Cape High Court described as a “form of litigation” that was “extremely disturbing coming from a minister of state”.

Contrary to what Moshoeshoe claims, the SCA judgment also dealt with the other aspects of the case, dismissing the government’s arguments. There “was not one iota of evidence” that unusual payments were made, “the allegation that shareholders received unlawful dividend payments is similarly without any foundation”, and “regarding the alleged disappearance of Redisa’s reserves ... the minister had misconstrued figures”.

It is also important to clarify that Redisa did not receive R1 of public funds. All its funding was private. Redisa was not the only victim of the captured government’s legal opportunism and slanderous accusations. The SA people were deprived of the many benefits the initiative supplied them. Redisa created jobs and businesses and provided a structure and efficient processes for numerous workers while addressing the urgent environmental challenges that waste tyres represent. All of this was put to an end.

Moshoeshoe’s claim that Redisa failed to meet targets is also false. In fact, Redisa met or exceeded targets. Already by 2015 it was collecting 63% of available waste tyres in the country. Only 4% were collected before Redisa began operating. It built 22 tyre collection centres, employed more than 3,000 people, created 226 SMMEs, and offset 59,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

In contrast to this, the government’s management of waste tyres has resulted in overfull depots, job losses, low recycling numbers, the collapse of compliance checks and rampant toxic pollution. Ask the tyre collectors, transporters and recyclers who bear the brunt of the department’s mismanagement, and they will tell you that since 2017 their industry has suffered.

Regarding Moshoeshoe’s claims of a “conflict of interest”, with the Redisa programme there were no overlapping directorships, and the relationships that existed were known and disclosed from the very beginning, all in line with the highest standards of probity.

A discards up to 259,000 tonnes of waste tyres a year. This is an environmental burden SA could ... easily turn into an economic asset through recycling.

Moshoeshoe also tries to defend George by naming four areas of “progress” on waste tyres. What is offered as progress is a jumble of administrative jargon: government established a committee, it submitted “a comprehensive business plan”, it “developed a programmatic approach”, it is “working on finalising” a draft master plan, it started vague “initiatives to promote efficiency” and “George is working with finance minister Enoch Godongwana to review the budget”.  

South Africans — and the waste collectors, transporters and small-scale recycling entrepreneurs — are not fooled by this type of nebulous language. Where are the concrete, real gains? Whose lives have been improved? How many jobs were created through recycling in the past year? What are the actual recycling figures? Can the government guarantee that a waste tyre depot fire like the disastrous one in Lichtenburg in 2023 will not happen again? 

The truthful answers to these questions are obvious. And they are unacceptable. The government’s response to the waste tyre crisis is not to fix things, but rather to spread falsehoods about Redisa and misrepresent the enormous scale of the problem. SA discards up to 259,000 tonnes of waste tyres a year. This is an environmental burden SA could again, as we did from 2012 to 2017, relatively easily turn into an economic asset through recycling.

To achieve this, the government must realise that it cannot effectively centralise and then dominate the waste industry through its actions as the Waste Bureau. It does not have the capacity nor the expertise to do this. Independent, experienced partners are needed. Government and industry must work together and play to each other’s strengths. But before the problem can be solved together the first steps must be for the government to acknowledge the truth and stop spreading misinformation. 

• Jansen is a director of Redisa.

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