Only one landfill in Northern Cape meets national standard

AfriForum this year audited 162 landfill sites nationwide as part of this organisation’s national project to measure the quality of landfills in South Africa.

Only 1 out of 18 landfills audited in Northern Cape have met national standards. In terms of applicable legislation and regulations, including the National Environmental Management: Waste Act 59 of 2008, a landfill must meet certain requirements.

According to Werner Strauss, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for the Kalahari, most landfill sites in the Northern Cape are in a terrible condition. “This can mainly be attributed to municipalities not taking their responsibillities towards the community seriously.”  

Lize-Mari van der Linden says that the most common problems that AfriForum encountered during the audit were the absence of waste management licenses and a total mismanagement of sites.

Municipal decay is the order of the day and it is obvious that smaller municipalities in particular are suffering from large-scale mismanagement.

In the last two years, AfriForum has met on several occasions with Barbara Creecy, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs, and her team. From the meetings it was clear that there was insufficient communication between national, provincial and local authorities. This is proof that co-operative government and traditional affairs (Cogta) and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs do not communicate with each other.