Four of the seven landfill sites in and around Tshwane are not up to par.
AfriForum released its annual landfill audit report on July 30 at the Bethal municipal landfill site and found that few municipalities comply with the relevant waste management legislation intended to protect communities’ health and the environment from pollution.
To pass the audit, a landfill has to meet at least 80% of the audit requirements.
Tshwane landfill sites included in the audit are Mooiplaats in Centurion (Raslouw), Hatherley in Nelmapius, Bon Accord in Pretoria North, Bronkhorstspruit, Ga-Rankuwa, Onderstepoort (in rehabilitation) and Soshanguve.
The landfill sites at Mooiplaats and Bon Accord are privately managed, while the other five are managed by the metro.
According to Marais de Vaal, AfriForum’s advisor for Environmental Affairs, Bon Accord on the Old Warmbaths Road and Mooiplaats in Centurion (between Laudium and Nandi) are the only landfill sites in Tshwane that comply with more than 80%.
These landfill sites are managed privately by The Waste Group.
Scores were compiled according to answers on an audit questionnaire.
These answers were used to determine the performance of the sites on the most important aspects of good waste management, such as access control and security, infrastructure, personnel, equipment, recycling, monitoring and record keeping.
Points were awarded for each category that met the audit requirements and processed into a final compliance score out of 100.
The landfill site 2024 compliance score of the seven sites in and around Tshwane are as follows:
– Hatherley (Nelmapius): 68%
– Mooiplaats (Centurion): 98%
– Bon Accord (Pretoria North): 94%
– Bronkhorstspruit: 74%
– Ga-Rankuwa: 66%
– Onderstepoort (Pretoria North): Closed between 2020 to 2022 and now in rehabilitation status
– Soshanguve: 66%
According to the report, the decline of landfill sites countrywide is increasing and is so extensive that, although AfriForum audited 28 more sites than last year, even fewer landfills countrywide were able to pass the independent audit this year.
The vast majority (85.8%) of these countrywide sites did not even meet the minimum requirements for responsible waste management.
AfriForum has been reporting on the country’s landfill sites since 2014 to determine whether they meet the necessary environmental, health and safety requirements for responsible waste management.
The civil rights organisation’s nationwide network of 160 branches audited 185 municipal landfill sites and four private landfills in February.
From the 189 landfill sites that were audited countrywide, it was found that:
– only 27 (14.3%) of the landfill sites met 80% or more of the audit requirements;
– 162 (85.8%) of landfill sites did not pass the audit;
– 12 of the landfill sites that passed the audit are in the Western Cape and six in Gauteng.
For the seventh consecutive year, no landfill sites in the Free State passed the audit.
“Considering that the audit pass rate determines whether only the minimum requirements for waste management are met, and how few landfill sites have passed, it is clear that there are major shortcomings in terms of municipal waste management,” said De Vaal.
“It is also worrying that fewer landfill sites passed the audit than in 2023, as AfriForum shared last year’s findings with all the municipalities involved as well as the then Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.
It therefore appears that no concrete steps have been taken in the past year to tackle the shortcomings,” said De Vaal.
AfriForum is already planning a meeting with Dr Dion George, Minister of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to request a formal investigation.
The organisation is also going to propose that the department plays a facilitating role to encourage substantial partnerships with the private sector.
Click here to see a video on the report:
https://www.facebook.com/AfriForumNasionaal/videos/412258905203008
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