Peters believes environmental transformation will succeed if all stakeholders, government, business and citizens commit to sharing responsibility. Photo courtesy: Threads
(The Post News)- Shyla Peters from the Patriotic Alliance has taken on a new role as MEC for Environment in Gauteng, facing leadership challenges and a steep learning curve in public service. Since July last year, Peters has led the complex environmental governance portfolio in Gauteng, South Africa’s densely populated province. She says serving people has always been important to her and is what drew her into politics, a desire to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those in her community.
Peters is responsible for managing and protecting Gauteng’s natural resources such as water, biodiversity, and ecosystems, while confronting arising challenges like waste management, global heating, air pollution, and climate crisis. Her appointment is significant for the PA, which holds two seats in the Gauteng legislature. Panyaza Lesufi’s restructuring gave Peters a standalone environmental portfolio, but the transition has been challenging.
She explained that they only became fully operational in April this year after receiving the presidential proclamation formalizing the department’s separation. She further explains that it has been a steep learning curve and the biggest eye-opener has been how many excellent policies already exist but they often fall flat at the implementation stage.
Peters wants her department to shift from policy talk to visible, effective environmental action and change people’s mindset about the environment. She cited President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent oversight visit to Johannesburg during which he condemned the state of the urban environment. Peters believes the crisis goes beyond unswept pavements. She says landfills are almost full and illegal dumping is rampant and suggests rethinking how waste is handled in Gauteng, especially by investing in technologies such as waste-to-energy which reduces landfill pressure and creates jobs at the same time.
Apart from tight public finances, she sees this being an opportunity to build partnerships with the private sector and civil society. She draws inspiration from the Water Warriors project in Elandsfontein, a collaborative effort between the community, City of Joburg, and companies like Coca-Cola and Heineken, which has restored the Jukskei River, implemented waste management systems, and created public art from recycled materials. She says it’s a brilliant example of what’s possible when government, business, and communities work together. She wants to take municipal leaders to see it so they can replicate the model in their own areas.
Although technology plays a role in cleaning the environment, from emissions monitoring to data-driven waste collection, she argues that the biggest battle is psychological. Which is why she wants to see more public-facing campaigns, not only in schools but everyday spaces as well, such as malls, taxi ranks, and community centres. Peters believes environmental transformation will only succeed if all stakeholders, government, business, and citizens commit to sharing responsibility.
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