4.6 Waste Management Officers

The Waste Act creates a specialised official, a Waste Management Officer, to coordinate waste management at each level of government. This addresses the historical fragmentation of waste management functions within government by ensuring that a dedicated authority in each sphere of government is responsible for implementing the policy and regulations of the Waste Act. The DEA has produced guidelines for the designation of WMOs, setting out their role, powers, profile and rank. The duties and responsibilities that the Waste Act and the NWMS assign to each sphere of government determine the roles and powers of their WMOs.

WMOs perform a regulatory function and should be located in functional divisions separate from service-delivery functions where possible. This is particularly important for overseeing adherence to national norms and standards, which is fundamental to achieving the objectives of the Waste Act.

The Act assigns specific regulatory powers to the National WMO and Provincial WMO's. They may request that holders of waste management licences appoint waste management control officers⁵⁴, and they may require waste impact reports when waste management licences are being reviewed⁵⁵.

The responsibilities of the national, provincial and local Waste Management Officers are in Table 6.

Table 6: Responsibilities of National, Provincial and Local WMOs

National Waste Management Officer	Provincial Waste Management Officer	Local Waste Management Officers
Chairperson of the National Waste Forum.	Chairperson of Provincial Waste Forum
Advises the Minister about the declaration of priority waste, EPRs, and mandatory Industry Waste Management Plans.	Advises the MEC.
Sorting out co-operative governance issues.	Sorting out co-operative governance issues.
Address overlapping mandates, particularly at national and provincial level.
Manage stakeholders in Waste Act implementation.	Manage stakeholders in Waste Act implementation.	Manage stakeholders in Waste Act implementation.
Liaise with national EMI compliance monitoring activities.	Liaise with provincial EMI compliance monitoring activities.	Liaise with EMI compliance monitoring activities in the municipality.
National IWMP: align planning and reporting cycles.	Provincial IWMP: align planning and reporting cycles	Municipal IWMP: planning and reporting cycles.
Build capacity in relation to Waste Act implementation.	Build capacity in relation to Waste Act implementation	Build capacity in relation to Waste Act implementation.
Formulate and oversee Waste Act implementation plan.		Monitor adherence to norms and standards in the delivery of waste services.

As part of their regulatory functions, the WMOs support the EMIs who enforce the provisions of the Waste Act. This requires a close working relationship between WMOs and EMIs. The WMOs will assist the Environmental Management Inspectorate to identify priorities for monitoring activities that present a significant threat to health and the environment. WMOs and EMIs will also work together to prepare Waste Impact reports⁵⁶. Under certain circumstances, both the EMI and WMOs can request a waste impact report, which will be done in consultation and co-operation with each other.

DEA will establish dedicated mechanisms to co-ordinate the efforts of WMOs (see Figure 5). Waste forums will be created at district, provincial and national level.

Figure 5: Coordination mechanisms for WMOs

To effectively co-ordinate regulatory and policy-making roles in relation to waste management, the chairperson of the National Waste Forum will report to Working Group II.

 

---

54. Section 58(1) of the Waste Act.
55. Section 66(2).
56. Provided for in terms of Section 66 of the Waste Act.