We are absolutely horrified by the find and our investigators are working tirelessly to resolve and get to the bottom of this
Tons of highly infectious raw medical waste, including bloody swabs and body parts collected from South Africa's biggest state and private hospitals, have been unearthed in the back yard of a brick factory.
The horrific 300-ton stash of filthy bandages, used needles, vials and discarded pills found buried in the Free State town of Welkom is the Green Scorpions' biggest medical waste discovery to date.
The dumping breaks waste management laws and poses serious public health risks, including ground water and borehole contamination and the spread of diseases such as hepatitis and HIV.
Now the country's second-largest waste management company, Wasteman, which boasts multimillion-rand contracts with more than 150 hospitals and clinics, is being probed.
On Friday the Green Scorpions, armed with search warrants and supported by scores of police forensics, organised crime and commercial crime officials, launched multiple simultaneous raids at the brick factory, at Wasteman's Klerksdorp incinerator, its Johannesburg head office and its Durban treatment facility.
As well as hundreds of bags of waste uncovered in Welkom, investigators seized two computers at the factory, and documents and copies of hard drives at the three other sites.
Officials in Durban also discovered waste, including anatomical waste, dated November 17 - which by law should long since have been destroyed.
The maximum penalty for illegal dumping of medical waste is a R10-million fine and 10 years' imprisonment.
Among Welkom's fly-infested find - buried in shallow trenches and covered up with broken bricks - was waste from as far afield as Durban.
So far, waste has been identified as coming from state hospitals and hospitals owned by private hospital giants Netcare and Life Healthcare.
These include St Augustine's Hospital in Durban and Chatsmed Garden Hospital in Chatsworth. The hospitals have waste-disposal contracts with the Wasteman Group, which includes empowerment subsidiary Phambili Wasteman.
Phambili Wasteman's managing director, Vincent Charnley, heads the industry watchdog, the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa. Yesterday he referred inquiries to the company's lawyer, who said the allegation of illegal waste dumping had "no merit".
Gavin Brasher, owner of Maximus Bricks, which the Green Scorpions have now shut down, admitted he was aware of the dumping - but not of the nature of what was being buried on his property.
The deputy director-general of the Department of Environmental Affairs, Joanne Yawitch, confirmed that Wasteman and its subsidiaries were under investigation.
"We are absolutely horrified by the find and our investigators are working tirelessly to resolve and get to the bottom of this," she said.
The Sunday Times, which initiated the Green Scorpions investigation a month ago following a tip-off, is in possession of photographs and video footage which shows bags of waste being offloaded by workers without protective gear at the Welkom brick yard.
It has been established that for at least the last five months:
Maximus Bricks has been ordered to "submit a certified copy of all contractual agreements between (it) and Phambili Wasteman".
The crisis in the R560-million-a-year industry dates back several years. With just six operating incinerators in the country and about 42000 tons of medical waste generated each year, an estimated 800 tons is illegally dumped annually.
Nearly two years after the Sunday Times first exposed the illegal dumping, the Democratic Alliance's Gareth Morgan last month compiled a damning dossier about the state of waste management. The document contained press reports of more than 15 cases of illegal dumping, including:
Wasteman's attorney, Brad Thomas, said yesterday that his client was conducting its own investigation. "While our client is of the opinion that there is no merit in the complaint, it has co-operated with authorities," he said.
Jacques du Plessis, the managing director of Netcare's hospital division, said Netcare would conduct "a full investigation".
Life Healthcare spokesman Marietjie Shelly said: "We are shocked ... and we will co-operate fully with the Green Scorpions. Our own investigation has already started."
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