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.

Environmental affairs Media statements | Media statements

Landfill audit: One landfill site stands head and shoulders above others in KZN

ByAfriForum 08/08/202408/08/2024

Nine of the 10 landfill sites that AfriForum audited in KwaZulu-Natal this year performed extremely poorly. However, one site, in Richards Bay, stood head and shoulders above the others by meeting 98% of the minimum legal requirements for responsible waste management.

AfriForum 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. However, the vast majority (85,8%) of landfill sites failed this year’s audit.

To pass the audit, a landfill site must have met at least 80% of the audit requirements. While the landfill site in Richards Bay met almost all the requirements, some of the worst performing landfills in the province, namely Paulpietersburg, Newcastle and Pongola, met only 16%, 22% and 28% of the audit requirements respectively.

This is how the landfill sites in KwaZulu-Natal compare:

Eugene van Aswegen, AfriForum’s Provincial Coordinator for KwaZulu-Natal, says local government refuse to take waste management seriously. This means that the landfill sites, which are already in a terrible state, continue to deteriorate. “The municipalities have serious shortcomings regarding their systems for waste management and the staff responsible for this. Smaller municipalities are particularly affected by mismanagement in this area. However, it appears that no concrete steps are being taken to address the shortcomings.”

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 KwaZulu-Natal’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.