By: Sizakele nduli
The Mpumalanga Youth Development Fund has been a great help toward Ennie Ndlovu’s recycling business, which has helped her create jobs for young people in Buffelspruit. The fund resulted in Untum Recycling being able to offer recycling and waste disposal services and hire six people. Ndlovu received R350,000. “We managed to buy a scale, a pallet jack, a basket, and a bailing machine. Waste pickers and ‘waste-preneurs’ make a living from collecting recyclables from the street (and) they too are financially benefiting from Untum Recycling,” she told Vutivi News. “In addition, their efforts play a critical role in reducing the environmental impacts of waste.”
According to the Department of Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fishing, the South African recycling economy provides income for approximately 84,000 individuals. The majority of these people are in the informal sector and are small- to medium-scale enterprises. By investing in the recycling industry, more formal jobs can be created. It is estimated that the recycling industry can contribute seven times more jobs than the landfill waste industry. “The recycling process actually allows us to conserve the environment. We are reducing greenhouse emissions as well as ensuring that our community and our ecosystem is protected,” said Ndlovu.
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One of her employees, Sbusiso Ngomane, told Vutivi News, “I’m so grateful to the Mpumalanga Youth Development Fund and the premier for starting this programme because now I have a permanent job and I can buy groceries for my mom and my child.” Ndlovu’s goal is to grow her enterprise to create more jobs for the youth in her community. She also thanked the fund for contributing towards the growth of her business. “I would like to thank Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane for this amazing opportunity as the youth of Mpumalanga. We are looking forward to having more opportunities that will help us improve our community so that we can fight poverty and unemployment,” Ndlovu said.
