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The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Ms Buyelwa Sonjica
today condemned the recently uncovered illegal dumping of health care
risk waste (medical waste).

*The Department of Environmental Affairs views these illegal
activities in a very serious light and the Environmental Management
Inspectorate (Green Scorpions) will leave no stone unturned in ensuring
that those found transgressing the environmental laws will face the full
might of the law.*

The Minister stressed that compliance with environmental laws was not
negotiable and players in the health care risk waste sector must
understand that. She went on to state that a zero tolerance approach
would be adopted with the medical waste sector.

*The Department cannot condone the deliberate disregard of strict
laws aimed at ensuring that waste is correctly managed, especially when
this disregard places our communities and environment at risk,* said
Sonjica.

The illicit dumpings are also of grave concern to the Department as
medical waste can pose a health and bio-hazard risk to the people that
may come into contact with it. There is also a risk that significant
harm may be caused to the environment such as pollution of soil and
underground water and surface water resources.

The Minister reiterated that the department is tightening the laws on
environmental offences. In terms of recent amendments to environmental
laws, the maximum penalties for committing these offences which
contravene the National Environmental Management: Waste Act are R10
million or 10 years imprisonment or both.

The magnitude and severity of these recent crimes further reinforce the
critical need for dedicated green courts to deal with these types of
cases. The department believes that the re-establishment of dedicated
green courts (including dedicated prosecutors) would have a profound
impact on the fight against environmental crime.

To ensure that all avenues of investigation and prosecution for this
case are followed we are working very closely with various law
enforcement agencies including various divisions of SAPS, the National
Prosecuting Authority, and the Asset Forfeiture Unit.

*I would also like to commend the journalists who were involved in
this process of uncovering these sites. The media play a significant
role in conveying information to the public and raising awareness about
such important issues,* she added.

I want to urge members of the public to blow the whistle on such
activities. Very often, it is you, the citizen that is in a position to
provide information on such serious crimes, bearing in mind that this
investigation was sparked through a tip off received by the Department.

The Department has a 24 hour environmental crimes and incidents hotline
which we urge you to use as it is you who can act as our eyes and ears
on the ground.

The environmental crimes and incidents hotline number is 0800 205 005.