The Team CouncilCouncil Members 2010 - 2012
| | President | Stan Jewaskiewitz | | Vice President | Deidre Nxumalo-Freeman
| Past President 2008-2010
| Vincent Charnley
| | Central Branch Chairman | Suzan Oelofse | | KwaZulu Natal Chairman | Pat Reddy | | Western Cape Chairman | Richard Emery | | Eastern Cape Chairman | Steve Kalule
| Executive Office
| Gail Smit |
President’s Report  | I wish to take this opportunity to wish our members all the best for 2010 – a year that is already etched in our minds in terms of the challenges met thus far in the last few years and those still to come in terms of the soccer World Cup in June!
The IWMSA is also faced with a number of challenges this coming year, most importantly, our flagship conference, WasteCon2010 to be held in October at Emperor’s Palace in Johannesburg. A lot of hard work goes into the organizing of WasteCon and judging by the number of exhibition bookings received thus far, it should be another bumper event.
Following a dipstick survey amongst our members early last year, Council formulated a strategy for the way forward within the IWMSA. Three strategic portfolios were identified with action plans devised to ensure that the IWMSA could meet our new goals. Significant progress has already been achieved and much work remains ahead of us this year if we want to attain the goals that we have set ourselves.
The Communication Portfolio is headed by Richard Emery (Western Cape) and has already achieved most of the targets that were set for them. These include a redesigned IWMSA website, the new e-newsletter, the Waste Vine, and regular email communications regarding meetings and events. I am sure members will agree that there has been a vast improvement and I encourage members to visit the website and contribute to the newsletter.
The Education & Training Portfolio is headed by Deidre Nxumalo-Freeman (Eastern Cape). The IWMSA sees this as probably the most important portfolio as there is a dearth of experienced or trained people in local government which poses serious challenges in terms of service delivery! A comprehensive schedule of training courses that are available has been compiled and is available from Head Office. The aim of this portfolio is to ensure that sufficient waste management courses are developed, accredited and training offered, particularly to local government. The IWMSA is currently looking at sponsoring the training and accreditation of facilitators within the various branches who could present the various courses. Discussions are also underway with the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, who will be offering a full career path for integrated waste management professionals, including a Masters degree.
The Membership Portfolio, headed by myself, aims to increase the membership of the IWMSA to include the vast number of people in local government who are new to the waste management profession. In turn, the IWMSA can then facilitate training of these people and in order to achieve this, closer co-operation is required with large metros, local government and SALGA. Discussions are well underway in developing a Memorandum of Understanding between SALGA and the IWMSA, who will provide support with training. This process will also in the longer term facilitate and enhance the transformation process within the IWMSA.
For us to achieve the goals we set ourselves, we need the ongoing support of all our members and in particular, the Patron Members. We wish to thank the Patron Members for their valued support in the past and look forward to an ongoing and fruitful relationship. In this regard, we intend to engage more regularly with our Patron Members in this coming year.
Finally, in ending off, a regrettable situation arose at the end of last year when a significant amount of health care waste (medical waste) was found to have been illegally dumped and buried in and near Welkom in the Free State. The media had a field day! This tarnished the image of the waste industry and in particular affected the IWMSA, which was accused by various members and the media of being a “toothless” watchdog.
It should be borne in mind that the IWMSA is a voluntary association of waste professionals and does not have statutory status. In order to be considered as the “voice of the waste industry”, we need to be self regulatory and be seen to take action when our members are implicated in irregular and illegal activities. For this reason, one of our Patron Members was suspended and the President of the IWMSA stepped down until such time as all the necessary investigations have been concluded by the Green Scorpions. We trust that these investigations will be finalized soon.
Regards
Stan Jewaskiewitz
Vice-President
IWMSA
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The Team