The Circular Economy Gap: South Africa's Missing End-of-Life Strategy

Sakhumzi Mayekiso turns the conversation outward - away from municipalities and towards the supplier ecosystem and the circular economy.

His core point: South Africa has no national strategy for what happens to materials once their lifecycle ends. Solar panels, wind turbines, batteries - the very technologies driving the green revolution - are ending up in landfill sites because nobody has worked out how to recycle or repurpose them.

This, he notes, is a global problem, but it is one South Africa is particularly unprepared for. Buyback schemes and recycling initiatives exist, but only for specific items. There is no whole-of-cycle thinking, no waste-to-energy industry to speak of, and no long-term vision that brings public and private sectors together around a shared strategy.

His sharpest observation: South Africa has a culture of developing excellent policies and then not acting on them.

The problem is not the policy - it is institutionalising and actioning it. Until there is a joined-up national strategy that closes the loop from procurement through to disposal, progress on the circular economy will remain piecemeal and reactive.

* From Future Cities Africa webinar: Transparency, Accountability, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in Municipal Procurement Watch: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/webinar/74/transparency-accountability-and-environmental-social-and-governance-esg-in-municipal-procurement