DA rejects Patel's directive to ban the export of scrap metal
5 August 2022
The DA rejects the decision by Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel, to ban the export of scrap metal for a period of 6 months.
This is an admission by government that they have failed to capacitate law enforcement authorities in order to combat the theft and vandalism of public infrastructure.
Furthermore, they appear to be acting in contravention of the relevant public participation legislation, as the announcement by Minister in Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, on the 6th of June 2022 that public consultations pertaining to this issue were to be conducted – have not yet begun nor has a timeline for this process been made public.
While there are illegal metal recyclers who benefit from and are complicit in the pillaging of public infrastructure and should be criminally prosecuted, it is patently unfair to paint everyone in the industry with the same brush.