Government Launches Multi-Million Rand E-Waste Recycling Pilot Project in the Eastern Cape

Government Launches Multi-Million Rand E-Waste Recycling Pilot Project in the Eastern Cape

BY : CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS ONLINE EDITOR KASiBC_AFRiCA

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MTHATHA — Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Bernice Swarts, has officially launched a groundbreaking E-Waste Collection and Recycling Pilot Project in the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) Local Municipality.

The launch, held on Wednesday, 20 May 2026, marks the expansion of a national environmental drive into the O.R. Tambo District. The project aims to tackle South Africa’s fastest-growing waste stream, clear localized infrastructure backlogs, and breathe economic life into small townships through cash-for-waste incentives.

The Looming E-Waste Threat

Electronic waste (e-waste), which encompasses discarded electrical devices like old cellphones, computers, and appliances, presents a severe hazard. South Africa generates more than 360,000 tonnes of e-waste annually, but only a tiny fraction is formally recycled. Because many of these devices contain hazardous chemical substances, disposing of them incorrectly poses severe risks to human health and local ecosystems.

Deputy Minister Swarts highlighted that the project acts as a direct response to a strict legislative shift in South Africa, which now completely prohibits sending e-waste to traditional landfills. Under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations, electronics producers are legally forced to fund and manage the safe recycling, reuse, and recovery of their products.

Rural Cash-for-Waste Strategy Yields Massive Results

While major cities often possess adequate recycling hubs, peri-urban and rural areas like KSD Local Municipality have historically lacked the necessary infrastructure, leaving residents with low awareness of recycling pathways.

To bridge this gap, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) partnered with the Eastern Cape Department of Environment, local municipalities, and Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs). The model sets up accessible community drop-off points, engages local small businesses (SMMEs), and rewards residents financially for sorting their trash.

The strategy has already proven highly lucrative in other provinces:

Mpumalanga: Successfully pioneered in Bushbuckridge and Nkomazi.

North West: Rolled out across Rustenburg and Madibeng under the Bojanala District.

Gauteng & Northern Cape: Implemented in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and Ga-Segonyana.

To date, these localized rural e-waste programmes have collected over 86,000 kilograms (86 tons) of discarded electronics, pumping more than R267,700.00 back into community hands via green incentives.

Driving a Circular "Township Economy"

Beyond cleaning up dump sites, the project is structured to stimulate inclusive provincial growth by embedding a "circular economy" at the household level.

"E‑waste recycling has the potential to support job creation, skills development, and small enterprise participation, while contributing to the growth of a circular economy within the municipality and the Province as a whole," Deputy Minister Swarts stated during her keynote speech.

The DFFE confirmed that it will monitor the Eastern Cape pilot closely against strict indicators. Progress will be measured by total tonnage collected, the number of active community members, the level of collaboration with township SMMEs, and direct employment opportunities created. The ultimate goal is to refine this model so it can be replicated across all other municipalities in the Eastern Cape.

Swarts closed by making an impassioned call to the residents of the KSD Local Municipality and the broader O.R. Tambo District to take absolute ownership of the drop-off infrastructure. By working together, local communities can turn an environmental hazard into sustainable township livelihoods.

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Gauteng Health Department Urges SASSA Disability Applicants to Use Clinics for Free Medical Forms to Avoid Hospital Fees

Gauteng Health Department Urges SASSA Disability Applicants to Use Clinics for Free Medical Forms to Avoid Hospital Fees

BY : CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS ONLINE EDITOR KASiBC_AFRiCA

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JOHANNESBURG — The Gauteng Department of Health and Wellness has issued an important notice to residents applying for disability grants through the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA).

Gauteng MEC for Health and Wellness, Faith Mazibuko, is urging all applicants who need healthcare practitioners to complete their medical verification forms—commonly referred to as referral forms or functional referral forms—to visit their nearest Primary Health Care facilities instead of major hospitals.

The advisory comes after the Department noticed a growing trend of SASSA applicants flooding local hospitals to get their medical paperwork processed.

Avoid Hospital Fees: Clinics Are Free

Under the Uniform Patient Fee Schedule (UPFS), South African public hospitals are bound by regulations that may require applicants to pay a prescribed administrative fee for the completion of these verification forms. However, the Department highlighted that this exact same administrative service is provided completely free of charge at localized clinics and Community Health Centres (CHCs).

By shifting from hospitals to local clinics, applicants can bypass unnecessary travel, long hospital queues, and unexpected out-of-pocket expenses.

MEC Mazibuko emphasized that local clinics are strategically placed to handle these requests efficiently while protecting vulnerable citizens from financial strain.

“We want to make it easier for disability grant applicants to access the assistance they need," MEC Mazibuko stated. "Clinics and CHCs are closer to communities and are better placed to assist with SASSA-related forms without placing an additional financial burden on applicants. We appeal to residents to only use hospitals for services that require specialised care.”

What to Bring to Your Local Clinic

To ensure a smooth process and help healthcare practitioners fill out the paperwork accurately, the Department reminds all applicants to bring the following documents to their nearest clinic or CHC:

Official SASSA medical verification/referral forms.

A Valid South African Identity Document (ID).

Any available Historical Medical Records or Health Books.

By utilizing community clinics for administrative tasks, residents not only save money but also help alleviate pressure on Gauteng’s heavily strained tertiary hospital network, keeping specialized care units open for medical emergencies.

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GAUTENG GOVERNMENT SATISFIED WITH PROGRESS ON HOSTEL REVITALISATION

GAUTENG GOVERNMENT SATISFIED WITH PROGRESS ON HOSTEL REVITALISATION

BY : CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS ONLINE EDITOR KASiBC_AFRiCA

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Gauteng Premier  Panyaza Lesufi has expressed satisfaction with the progress made in the revitalisation of hostels owned by the Gauteng Provincial Government.

The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements owns six hostels in the Johannesburg Inner City, which are George Goch, Jeppe, MBA, Murray and Robert and Denver.

“ The last time I was here, you could not even walk like this; there was sewage all over. There was no electricity, and security was poor. We have put CCTV cameras and high mast lights. We just have to start negotiating with hostel leadership on who must stay here, and we must also account for the people who reside in the hostels,” said Premier Lesufi.

 “Hostel residents dictated how the hostel should be. The basic non-negotiable is that it must be conducive  for people to stay here,” said Lesufi

 The site inspection was conducted by Premier Lesufi, MEC  for Human Settlements Tasneem Motara and MEC for E-government Bonginkosi Dhlamini.

MEC Motara said that the work had progressed well on five hostels, while it started late on the sixth hostel. 

“ Work in the five hostels should be completed in the next 6 months. The last one that we started late last year, we will still continue with the work,” she said.

 Motara said that the progress made would not be possible without a solid relationship between the government, hostel leadership and the residents of the hostels.

MEC Dhlamini said that the government had installed high-tech CCTV cameras and Wi-Fi in the hostels.

“As part of assisting in the hostel revitalisation, the E-government department installed  CCTV cameras that are connected to our Command Centre, where they are monitored. Even the hostel leadership can attest that the high rate of crime, more especially murder at night, has gone down because of the cameras.  The residents can connect to the WI-FI to access government services and also for personal use,” said Dhlamini.

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Bushbuckridge: South Africa’s Forgotten Promise

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Bushbuckridge: South Africa’s Forgotten Promise

BY : CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS ONLINE EDITOR KASiBC_AFRiCA

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BUSHBUCKRIDGE — Bushbuckridge stands t

oday as one of the clearest symbols of democratic failure in post-apartheid South Africa. It is a municipality abandoned by those entrusted with protecting its future — a forgotten community where poverty has become generational and hopelessness increasingly normalised.

Children are born into deprivation. They grow up witnessing unemployment dismantle households; corruption suffocates opportunity, and politicians arriving only when election campaigns begin. For many, life starts and ends in the same cycle of poverty into which they were born. This is not merely poor governance. It is systemic neglect.

The Billion-Rand Debt and Constitutional Failure

Bushbuckridge Municipality continues to face immense financial strain, exacerbated by the failure of national and provincial government departments to pay rates, taxes, and service-related obligations amounting to nearly a billion rand. Intergovernmental cooperation has deteriorated to the point where communities are effectively left to fend for themselves.

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 guarantees every citizen the rights to dignity, equality, access to water, housing, healthcare, and social security under Sections 9, 10, 26 and 27. Yet constitutional rights carry little meaning when communities continue living without reliable access to running water for nearly three decades into democracy.

Rights become hollow when children study by candlelight because electricity remains inaccessible in parts of the municipality. Rights lose substance when unemployment strips people not only of income, but of dignity itself.

Political Decay at the Doorstep of Power

The governance crisis in Bushbuckridge is particularly alarming because it unfolds within the home municipality of the Premier of Mpumalanga. One would reasonably expect such proximity to provincial leadership to inspire development, accountability, and meaningful service delivery. Instead, the opposite has occurred. Bushbuckridge has become a symbol of political decay.

The suffering of its people exists at the doorstep of power itself, yet year after year, little changes. Roads continue to deteriorate. Water infrastructure collapses. Young people lose faith in democratic institutions. Entire communities become increasingly dependent on social grants simply to survive.

Millions intended for development disappear through irregular tenders, politically connected patronage networks, and corruption schemes designed to enrich elites while communities remain trapped in desperation. The Auditor-General of South Africa has repeatedly warned about irregular expenditure, weak oversight, and the collapse of governance structures within municipalities across the country. Yet accountability remains almost entirely absent. Bushbuckridge did not arrive at this crisis by accident.

It is the product of decades of political patronage, cadre deployment, weak oversight, and the deliberate erosion of accountability within local government structures. Municipal institutions were never strengthened to serve communities; they were gradually repurposed to serve political networks. When competence is replaced with political loyalty, collapse becomes inevitable.

The Weaponization of Fear

What is perhaps most devastating is that not even intervention from the national government appears capable of rescuing Bushbuckridge from its downward spiral. Corruption has become deeply entrenched within political structures that continue to thrive through fear, dependency, and the systematic exploitation of vulnerable communities.

Too many residents — particularly the poor and uneducated — are manipulated into believing that accountability and political change are dangerous. Fear is deliberately cultivated because fear protects failing systems. It keeps communities dependent, silent, and politically trapped while those benefiting from dysfunction continue to flourish. The politics of fear has become more profitable than the politics of service delivery.

Among the most heartbreaking encounters in Bushbuckridge are those with elderly women — gogos who still carry the trauma of apartheid and genuinely fear its return. Fear has become one of the ANC’s most effective political instruments. Communities are repeatedly persuaded that change itself is dangerous, and that continued suffering is preferable to political accountability.

And then there are the youth — disillusioned, discouraged, and increasingly unwilling to register to vote because they no longer believe democracy can improve their lives. That may well be the greatest danger confronting South Africa’s future.

Rebuilding from the Ground Up

Fixing Bushbuckridge will require far more than another election campaign or another provincial intervention task team. It requires rebuilding institutions from the ground up.

Enforce Consequence Management: There must be immediate consequences for corruption and maladministration.

Appoint Qualified Professionals: Critical positions must be occupied by capable experts rather than politically connected individuals.

Restore Independent Oversight: Financial controls and accountability mechanisms must be completely revitalised.

Ring-Fence Budgets: Infrastructure funds intended for water, roads, sanitation, and electricity must be strictly protected so they actually reach communities.

The Democratic Alliance does not enter communities like Bushbuckridge promising miracles. Opposition parties cannot promise what they do not yet govern. But we can offer communities something they have been denied for far too long: accountability, ethical leadership, oversight, and hope — not false hope, but hope grounded in constitutional governance, transparency, and service.

We remind communities that their vote remains powerful. Their vote is secret. Their vote belongs to them — not to politicians, not to fear, and not to history. We ask communities only to lend us their trust for five years so that leadership may be judged not by slogans, but by measurable outcomes.

The people of Bushbuckridge have not failed democracy; democracy has failed them. But perhaps the time has finally come for South Africans to stop voting out of fear and start voting for accountability.

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Forensic Investigators Call for Former Mpumalanga Education MEC to Face Public Protector Over R2-Million Laptop Scandal

Forensic Investigators Call for Former Mpumalanga Education MEC to Face Public Protector Over R2-Million Laptop Scandal

BY : CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS ONLINE EDITOR KASiBC_AFRiCA

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MBOMBELA — The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga has formally written to Premier Mandla Ndlovu, demanding that he implement outstanding forensic recommendations by reporting former Education MEC Cathy Dlamini to the Public Protector over a high-profile laptop procurement scandal.

The controversy dates back to December 2024, when the Mpumalanga Department of Education purchased 22 laptops through a service provider, BoTau Technologies. The company was later exposed for heavily overcharging the department and failing to deliver the specific devices that taxpayers had funded. The inflation of prices was brought to light by a whistleblower in February 2025, prompting the Premier to launch an official forensic investigation.

A detailed forensic report, which has been reviewed by the DA, reveals that the department irregularly splurged over R2 million on the 22 laptops, which equates to an astronomical cost of R92,000 per single laptop.

Former MEC Omitted from Accountability

The initial phase of the forensic probe targeted the Head of Department (HOD), Lucy Moyane, alongside other senior departmental staff. In May 2025, acting on the investigator's initial findings of gross procurement irregularities and alleged dishonesty, Premier Ndlovu suspended HOD Moyane and the implicated officials.

Following the fallout of the procurement scandal, Dlamini ultimately lost her cabinet post as the MEC of Education.

However, the DA points out that the Premier failed to act on a critical directive in the final forensic report: formally referring Dlamini to the Public Protector. The investigators concluded that the former MEC must be investigated in terms of Section 4(1)(b) of the Executive Members' Ethics Act 82 of 1998, given her role as the political and accounting executive of the corrupted department.

Calls for Blacklisting and Criminal Charges

In addition to targeting political leadership, the opposition party is pushing for swift retribution against the private contractors involved. The forensic report explicitly recommended that the Mpumalanga Provincial Government immediately move to blacklist BoTau Technologies on the National Treasury Register for Tender Defaulters, citing both the exorbitant overcharging and the company's grossly dishonest conduct during the formal investigation.

The DA has confirmed it will expand its push for accountability by writing directly to the current MEC of Education, Lindi Masina.

MEC Masina will be urged to report all suspected criminal elements—including potential collusion between officials and the service provider—to law enforcement agencies under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) of 1999 and the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act of 2004. Furthermore, the DA is demanding that the department carry out the forensic report’s recommendation to subject all implicated senior officials to comprehensive lifestyle audits.

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