Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

Landfill audit: KwaZulu-Natal

ByAfriForum 14/08/202314/08/2023

The civil rights organisation AfriForum audited 161 landfills nationwide this year as part of their national project to determine the condition of landfills in South Africa.

Only 1 out of the 10 landfill sites audited in KwaZulu-Natal met the national standards. Under applicable legislation and regulations, including the National Environmental Management Act: Waste 59 of 2008, landfills must meet specific requirements.

This is how the landfills in KwaZulu-Natal compare:

According to Eugene van Aswegen, AfriForum’s Provincial Coordinator for KwaZulu-Natal, most landfills in KwaZulu-Natal are in a terrible state. “This can mainly be attributed to landfills being increasingly badly managed due to a restricted budget.”

“The most common problem that AfriForum branches in KwaZulu-Natal noticed during this audit is that the officials responsible for service delivery do not see the maintenance of landfills as a necessity. This is a major concern as the municipal officials are obliged to ensure that landfills are a safe environment in terms of our constitution, and they are not being held accountable,” says Van Aswegen.

Municipal decay is the order of the day and smaller municipalities, in particular, suffer from large-scale mismanagement.

This situation can be attributed to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE) being controlled by three different spheres of government. The national department only has the power to establish laws, policies, norms, and standards at the national level, but they have no power at the provincial or municipal level. The province reports to the provincial MEC, not to the minister. Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) and the DFFE do not communicate with each other and therefore bring another challenge.

Click here and read the full report.