Landfill audit: Mpumalanga’s landfill sites in a miserable state
The situation at landfill sites in Mpumalanga looks just as dire as elsewhere in the country where the vast majority (85,8%) of these sites could not pass AfriForum’s independent landfill audit this year. The civil rights organisation audited 189 landfill sites nationwide to determine the current state of municipal and private landfills in South Africa. The annual audit determines whether landfill sites meet the necessary environmental, health and safety requirements for responsible waste management.
To pass the audit, a landfill site must have met at least 80% of the audit requirements. In Mpumalanga, a total of 23 landfill sites were visited. Of these, 22 were formally audited, while one site was closed. Only one of the 22 landfill sites that were audited in Mpumalanga, namely the White River transfer station, met the minimum legal requirements for responsible waste management. This landfill site met 94% of the audit requirements after meeting only 24% the previous year. The landfill site in Morgenzon (0%) has failed the audit again, while the standards at the landfill sites in Carolina (54% compliance) and Belfast (34% compliance) have deteriorated significantly compared to last year (82 % and 59% respectively).
This is how the landfill sites in Mpumalanga compare:
According to Arlo van Heerden, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for the Lowveld Region, the situation in the province can be attributed to the municipalities’ serious shortcomings regarding their systems for waste management and the personnel responsible for these systems. However, it appears that no real steps are being taken to address the shortcomings.
“It’s clear that most landfill sites in Mpumalanga are in a terrible state. A common problem that AfriForum’s branches noticed during this audit is that there is almost no control over the type of waste that is dumped at the sites, the weighbridges are often out of order and that the rubbish is not examined at the entrances to the sites. This is a major source of concern, as this poor management can have a significant impact on the health of the community and the environment,” says Van Heerden.
AfriForum is already planning a meeting with Dr. Dion George, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DBFO), to share the landfill audit report’s findings with him and request a formal investigation against Mpumalanga’s non-compliant municipalities. AfriForum is of the opinion that South Africans’ constitutional rights, such as the right to a clean and healthy environment, are being denied by the poor management of landfill sites, therefore the DBVO will urgently have to call municipalities to account.
