AfriForum audited the Hatherley landfill site in Mamelodi on 4 October this year and found that applying pressure to municipalities does indeed bear fruit. This landfill site adhered to only 16% of the minimum requirements according to AfriForum’s 2016 landfill site audit, whereas it achieved a turn-around 80% this year.
The audit forms part of an annual national campaign that measures landfill sites according to 33 questions in towns where there are established AfriForum branches.
“After last year’s audit report, AfriForum targeted the Hatherley landfill site for rehabilitation in cooperation with the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. Hatherley is one of Tshwane’s most important landfill sites and it is therefore of the utmost importance for the site to have a long lifespan. It is comforting to see that AfriForum’s pressure had a positive effect. Despite the many challenges facing this landfill site, they fared decidedly better in this year’s audit,” says Chris Boshoff, Coordinator for Environmental Affairs at AfriForum.
“According to applicable legislation and regulations – among other the National Environmental Management Act: Waste (Act No 59 of 2008) – a landfill site should adhere to set requirements related to access control, fire regulations, fencing, rehabilitation and so forth. A landfill site should obtain at least 80% to adhere to this legislation, which the Hatherley landfill site did. This turn-around is proof that there are still people in the municipalities who do care for the environment and its protection and rehabilitation,” says Lambert de Klerk, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for Gauteng.
Become involved in this AfriForum initiative in Tshwane by emailing lambert@antiek.afriforum.co.za or sending an SMS with “Omgewing” to 45341 (R1).