The IWMSA Central Branch hosted a Women’s Month event where four speakers shared stories about their journeys, values and resilience in an industry that is pivotal to sustainability.

Makgabo van Niekerk, EnviroServ’s Head of Public Affairs and Communications, facilitated the day’s proceedings. Here are profiles and some standout quotes from four phenomenal speakers:

Harriet Matjila – entrepreneur and mentor

Co-founder and director of Makhabisi Recycling and Trading CC, Matjila has more than 15 years of experience and employs 45 people full-time. Her company, established in 2009 in Reiger Park, has won multiple awards for its contribution to recycling. Beyond business, she is passionate about empowering waste pickers and training entrepreneurs to establish their own enterprises.

“Perseverance is really the mother of success. Push through where men are pushing you back, and do it anyway – with that baby on your back, do it anyway,” she told the audience, underscoring her belief that opportunity and persistence must go hand in hand.

Palesa Mathibeli – policymaker and strategist

With more than 25 years of experience, Mathibeli is currently Director for Pollution and Waste Management at the Gauteng Department of Environment. She holds both a BSc Honours in Environmental Management and a Master’s degree in Public and Development Management, cum laude. Her career spans the development of legislative frameworks, leadership roles at the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, and groundbreaking work on South Africa’s first public-private waste-to-energy partnership.

“Waste management remains heavily underfunded, yet it is one of the most costly services to run. But over the past few months, I have been seeing improvements in the sector. Government is tightening up on regulation and beginning to prioritise waste management.”

Jabulile Msiza – engineer and mentor

Chairwoman of the board at Jones & Wagener, Msiza leads the Waste Engineering Department and has worked for over 15 years as a registered professional engineer. She grew up in a township in the East Rand and was brought up by her older sisters due to the death of he mother at an early age. Asked if she was aware of the impact she carries – the presence she brings and the heights she has already reached, Msiza said:

“We don’t see our greatness. Most of the time we don’t celebrate it, until we are in spaces like this, where somebody sees it and elevates it. Then you start gaining the confidence and the voice… to speak in even bigger rooms.”

Shoba Govender – commercial leader and collaborator

Govender is the Commercial Director and Executive Board Member at Interwaste Holdings. With over 20 years in the technical industries, she has held leadership roles in plastics, corrugated packaging, facilities management, and waste services.

“Circularity is not just recycling,” she said. “It requires re-engineering processes and creating end-to-end solutions where by-products become inputs for new value chains”.

“When I explained to my daughter what we do in the waste management sector, she looked at me and said, ‘Mom, you’re saving the world.’”

Waste, energy, and circularity

The panel discussions dug into practical challenges, from the slow pace of waste-to-energy projects in Johannesburg to the need for smaller, modular plants that fit South Africa’s local context.

“Politicians need to understand that we are solving a waste problem with these projects, not an electricity problem. However, compared to cheap landfill tariffs, waste-to-energy projects are expensive. A further complication is that the calorific value of waste is low as we do not separate waste.” Mathibeli stressed, warning against contracts signed without feasibility studies.

Speakers also unpacked misconceptions about the circular economy. Too often reduced to recycling, true circularity means designing from cradle to cradle, shifting manufacturing systems, and creating symbiotic industrial networks.

As one panellist put it, “If our leaders don’t understand circular economy, we are still very far from achieving it. Waste is at the centre of this transformation.”