On August 28, Gauteng MEC for the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Ewan Botha, led a high-impact compliance blitz in Vereeniging, alongside Environmental Management Inspectors, SAPS, Emfuleni Local Municipality, the Department of Home Affairs, and the Department of Labour.

The coordinated operation resulted in the immediate closure of an unlicensed waste facility, the exposure of unsafe and exploitative labour conditions, and the arrest of 10 undocumented foreign nationals, including the facility’s owner, for failing to produce valid identification or a passport.

The inspection team was divided into three groups, each tasked with assessing different sites. At the first site, officials discovered that the operator was conducting waste management activities without a legally required Waste Management Licence, in direct contravention of the National Environmental Management Waste Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008).

Despite having previously been issued with a Section 24G administrative fine, the operator continued operations unlawfully, ignoring enforcement instructions, appealing licence conditions, and flouting environmental regulations.

Although the facility holds an Atmospheric Emission Licence, the department emphasised that this does not substitute the legal requirement for a Waste Management Licence.
Acting on these findings, MEC Botha, supported by the enforcement team, issued an instruction for the immediate closure of the facility.

“We will not allow businesses to exploit workers, harm our environment, or sidestep South Africa’s laws,” said MEC Botha.

“Those who operate within the law will thrive in what is a growing and potentially lucrative recycling sector. But those who break the law will be shut down.”
Botha reiterated that the province is committed to building a regulated and sustainable environmental sector that safeguards workers, protects natural resources, and prioritises South Africans.

The Department of Home Affairs and SAPS jointly conducted immigration checks on site, enforcing compliance with immigration legislation. Meanwhile, the Department of Labour assessed working conditions at the facility, uncovering multiple breaches of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) standards.

Workers were found living and working in unsafe, hazardous environments, highlighting the operator’s blatant disregard for worker rights and legal compliance.
The second facility visited during the blitz was found to be partially compliant and will remain under close monitoring by all relevant stakeholders. Encouragingly, the third facility was fully compliant with environmental, labour, and immigration laws.

This operation forms part of a broader province-wide enforcement campaign aimed at strengthening compliance across key sectors, particularly those prone to environmental and labour violations.