WRDA confirms plastics production downtime

In its 30 August issue the NEWS reported about the results of an inspection held by DA councillors

at the plastics recycling factory in Mogale City. The factory is a West Rand District Municipality (WRDM) project, and this is the (unedited) response the NEWS received from Zeblon Mphaphuli on behalf of the West Rand Development Agency (WRDA)Management:

“The plastics recycling factory, is one of the projects initiated and seeded by the WRDM to provide a platform for the community to generate a livelihood in the waste management sector, specifically recycling. A cooperative was established by unemployed community members from Westonaria and Randfontein to learn about the industry through participate in the operations and management of the factory, under the guidance and support of the WRDM

“The project was handed over to the WRDA to further develop and create linkages to ensure sustainability. The Agency, contrary to the misperception presented, raised additional funding from the provincial government to acquire a bigger transformer and proper machinery to enable additional production activities to be undertaken.

“The WRDA has indicated to lawmakers in council, that as part of the turnaround actions, the factory will be an incubator for emerging enterprises to enter the plastics industry. This is in line with national, provincial government and West Rand District policy objectives to grow the manufacturing sector and green industries, and surely the plastics recycling factory meets this criteria. It well worth to mention that the WRDA has no intention of competing in any commercial space, however it is duty bound to develop and support industry formation in the West Rand, which is the case here.

“The role of government is to create the enabling environment for enterprise to thrive and jobs to be created. Furthermore as a developmental state, this government has to intervene in a catalyctic manner and create the form of initiatives entrepreneurs can base their growth and advancement.

“It is true that the cable was stolen during February 2013. The theft was reported and Supply chain processes started immediately. There were however a number of challenges to the process. The legislative framework prescribes how acquisitions must be processed and these were followed. Industrial legislation, as well as applicable electrical legislation all prescribes conditions and specifications to which the installation must comply with. As an entity of the state, the WRDA has to adhere to these prescripts given that public funds are utilised. The WRDA Board as well as the Management are committed to strict accountability, and thus have the approach that proper governance and procurement processes cannot be compromised.

“The above is also valid for the WRDM as it supported the procurement process for the WRDA through capacity provision and therefore strict procurement processes were adhered to in this instance as all prescribed steps were exhausted up to this point.

“Since March 2013, the requisitions for quotation were completed twice. In the first instance there quoting suppliers did not meet specified criteria and in the second instance there where no qualifying contractors that submitted quotes . After the last attempt the WRDM requested a closed bid from qualifying contractors in terms of the CIBD registration. This contractor was on site on Thursday 29 August to assess the task to be undertaken. Their technical team was on site on Friday 30 August 2013 in order to quantify the work to be undertaken. Their quote was submitted today and a technical proposal report will be provided to the WRDA on Wednesday to make an appointment.The matter has been distorted out of proportion as the cooperative staff engage in work activities such as sorting and up keep of the premises. Management has engaged with the cooperative on the bigger plan of the multi enterprise incubator and providing them the opportunity to select which area of the production value chain they want to focus on. The production downtime has created the opportunity to reflect clearly on the trajectory this initiative is taking regionally, in which it is an important part of a broader vision of Municipal Environmental Recycling Clusters (MERCs). Lastly due to this initiative, the West Rand is considered a destination for recycling related industries and very soon other major recycling industries will be announced.”