Ekurhuleni landfills inaccessible; AfriForum brings PAIA application
The AfriForum branch in Brakpan on 26 June sent a PAIA application to the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality to obtain information regarding fines issued as well as financial statements and spending in relation to waste sites in Ekurhuleni.
Depending on what this information yields, AfriForum will consult its legal team to discuss the next steps.
AfriForum annually audits landfills in towns and cities where this organisation’s branches are located. The data collected is then detailed in a report. However, the landfills that the AfriForum branches in Ekurhuleni wanted to visit were closed or inaccessible this year due to riots and illegal miners. In other cases, the municipality refused AfriForum’s requests to gain access to the landfills – even in cooperation with the municipality’s auditors.
AfriForum on 12 June sent a letter to Dr Imogen Mashazi, the municipal manager, after carcasses of animals that had been removed by the Ekurhuleni metro’s waste disposal services at the Springs SPCA were illegally dumped in a field. In the letter, AfriForum demanded that an investigation be launched and that the municipality provide feedback to this civil rights organisation. Since then, no feedback has been received. The landfills in Springs are also regularly closed to the public due to various problems at these landfills.
In other parts of Ekurhuleni, the Simmer & Jack landfill in Germiston is controlled by zama-zamas. There is a constant fight for control of land between two factions that are currently mining illegally on the grounds of the landfill. On June 23, eight bodies of suspected illegal miners were found in Primrose, while residents living near the landfill often have to hide in their homes due to shots being fired at the landfill.
Meanwhile, the Weltevreden landfill site near Brakpan is also teeming with illegal miners who in February 2019 caused Main Reef Road, which is one of the main routes to Brakpan, to collapse. This landfill also has challenges with a settlement that has arisen on the border of the landfill and makes it impossible for operators of this landfill to comply with their license conditions. Illegal dumping of waste regularly takes place outside this landfill’s grounds, while the Ekurhuleni Metro’s own waste disposal services are also guilty thereof. The AfriForum branch in Brakpan also met with the municipality to share their concerns and offered to intervene but has so far received no support from the municipality.
“It is unacceptable that we as taxpayers have to fight for our basic human rights and services. The authorities are there precisely to uphold the Constitution by protecting our rights and providing basic services, for which we pay. We insist that the municipality outline a workable and sustainable plan and make it available to us on how they are going to deal with will deal with this lack of effective garbage disposal services,” says Jurie Ferreira, District Coordinator for the East Rand.
“The slow intervention and mismanagement of the municipality leads to greater problems, including illegal activities, on these waste sites. If the municipality does not intervene urgently, it will have far-reaching consequences on service delivery, safety and residents’ health.”
Although the AfriForum branches are aware that there are not quick solutions to every challenge at the landfills, AfriForum will continue to apply pressure on the municipality. Further legal steps will also be considered to hold the municipality responsible if the municipality does not fulfil its legal obligations.
AfriForum encourages the communities in Ekurhuleni to get involved with AfriForum to promote this organisation’s mandate and abilities to apply pressure on the government.
