R5m for dumping medical waste
2009-11-30 09:31
Welkom - The businessman on whose premises the country's largest-ever dumping site for dangerous medical waste was found, says he was paid for it because he's having financial difficulties.
On Sunday, Gavin Brasher admitted via his attorney, Hannes Peyper, that he would get R5m from Wasteman's opposition to dump and bury such waste at his business, Maximus Bricks.
Wasteman has a contract for the handling and the incineration of medical waste from 150 hospitals in South Africa.
Brasher said he recently lost R10m in a contract he'd had with the bankrupt Pamodzi mine.
He also has a contract for the transport of medical waste with Wasteman. This contract entails only the transport of the waste from hospitals in Durban to Wasteman's incinerator in Klerksdorp.
Trap for Wasteman
Peyper said Wasteman's opposition company approached Brasher to set a trap for Wasteman, at a fee.
Some of the bags containing dangerous medical waste were dumped at the brickyard and buried when the trucks spent the night there on their way to Klerksdorp. The same number of bags were then filled with "other things" and taken to the incinerator in Klerksdorp along with the rest of the medical waste.
About two weeks ago, at the request of the other company (which doesn't want to identify itself at this stage), loads of medical waste were also buried at the dumping site of a mine in Welkom and at the old show grounds, "to make the picture more complete".
Peyper said the Green Scorpions don't know about these loads, but he would show it to them should they request it.
Apparently Brasher was aware that the illegal dumping was filmed.
Besides the R5m payment to him, the opposition company also agreed to clean up the dumping site at Maximus Bricks and pay his fine, should he be found guilty.
"Due to great financial pressure, he allowed the wrong thing to be done, and had the medical waste buried on his property. He has implicated Wasteman," said Peyper.