23 Nov 2022

Opportunities exist in the waste sector as evidenced by licenses issued to Waste Management Business facilities involved in the recovery, recycling and disposal of waste.

Answering a question on behalf of the minister of Environment and Tourism Ms Phildah Kereng, the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Mr Sethabelo Modukanele told Parliament that as October, 89 waste management facilities with a staff complement of 458 employees were licensed.

Further, he said 1 133 vehicles have been licensed for the business of transporting various streams of waste with an estimated employment of 3 399 jobs. He said these numbers were higher because of government support through tenders, particularly for waste collection and transportation.

He said the ministry has developed the Integrated Waste Management Policy of 2021, which advocates for commercialisation of waste through the circular economy principle.

Mr Modukanele said the ministry continued to engage stakeholders to integrate the Waste Policy objectives into their sectoral plans, noting that CEDA and FNBB have presented their funding models.

CEDA as at March has funded a total of 16 waste management projects to the tune of approximately P8.9 million creating about 246 jobs. He said efforts to leverage funding for the growth of waste-based enterprises were ongoing and stated that his ministry has prioritised waste economy and its associated value chains in the National Transition Plan with resources earmarked to support the course.

He was responding to a question from Kgalagadi South MP, Mr Sam Brooks regarding strategies in place to commercialize waste management activities and the ministry’s engagement of financial institutions since waste management-related projects were not on the list of projects to be funded. ENDS