Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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Chapter 3: The politics of wasteappearance of responsible environmental management. Most did not. Governmentmeanwhile used ‘stakeholder participation’ to manage dissent while negotiating noncompliancewith polluting corporations. Outside of managed participation, it wasincreasingly intolerant of dissent, closing down on people’s rights to information andfree speech and contesting <strong>the</strong> legitimacy of civil society mobilisations. This provokeda confrontation with emerging social movements which had its symbolic climax on<strong>the</strong> world stage provided by <strong>the</strong> 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development(WSSD) in Johannesburg. As host, government managed that event to establish <strong>the</strong>primacy of economic growth over environment in <strong>the</strong> conference hall, but it lost <strong>the</strong>battle on <strong>the</strong> streets where its claim to <strong>the</strong> banner of emancipation was exposed asa threadbare remnant. 34 For <strong>the</strong>ir part, <strong>the</strong> social movements could not sustain <strong>the</strong>momentum created around <strong>the</strong> WSSD. The event never<strong>the</strong>less marked a profoundshift in South African politics.Polokwane’s zero waste puzzleFollowing its publication, <strong>the</strong> NWMS ga<strong>the</strong>red dust for ano<strong>the</strong>r year. In 2001, <strong>the</strong>DEAT convened a <strong>Nation</strong>al Waste Summit which issued <strong>the</strong> Polokwane Declarationagreed by government, business and civil society stakeholders. It envisaged wastemanagement contributing to sustainable development and “a measurable improvementin <strong>the</strong> quality of life” and it “reaffirm[ed] our commitment to <strong>the</strong> Integrated Pollutionand Waste Management Policy, <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong>al Waste Management Strategy and <strong>the</strong>principles of waste minimization, reuse, and recycling for sustainable development”.The need to ‘reaffirm’ was really confirmation that nothing was happening. Never<strong>the</strong>less,Polokwane defined a bold national goal to:Reduce waste generation and disposal by 50% and 25% respectively by 2012and develop a plan for ZERO WASTE by 2022. [Emphasis in original]To achieve this, <strong>the</strong> declaration laid out a set of actions starting with implementationof <strong>the</strong> NWMS and <strong>the</strong> development of legislation. Activists welcomed <strong>the</strong> zerowaste commitment. Then … nothing happened. Ra<strong>the</strong>r than trumpeting a new era,Polokwane was <strong>the</strong> last hoarse whisper of <strong>the</strong> spirit of Connepp – <strong>the</strong> project for socialdemocratic reform.34 See The groundWork Report 2004 for <strong>the</strong> clamp down on people’s rights and <strong>the</strong> confrontation at WSSD.- 52 - groundWork - <strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong>