The court application of the civil rights organisation AfriForum, which amongst others requires the Lim 368 Local Municipality to clean up the Naboomspruit landfill site, was heard in the North Gauteng High Court on 10 October 2017. Judgement was reserved. This landfill site does not adhere to license permit requirements and that subsequently leads to the pollution of groundwater.
AfriForum furthermore also requires the following:
- That all rubbish is removed in an environmentally friendly manner.
- That drainage systems are built to relay effluent water from the landfill site.
- After a court order is adjudged in AfriForum’s favour, that water tests are done within five days at all water resources, as well as lye water in and around the landfill site and are sent to accredited laboratories for analysis.
- That an operational plan is prepared which explains how the landfill site will be rehabilitated in future.
- That proper access control measures are put in place at the landfill site.
The court application was brought last year after AfriForum received many complaints from Naboomspruit’s residents regarding the poor management of the landfill site.
“It is important to immediately put a stop to the poor management of landfill sites, seeing as it has a huge impact on the environment and community. Polluted lye water pollutes groundwater, which is eventually pumped up via boreholes for human consumption,” says Jaco Grobbelaar, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for Limpopo.
“There where municipalities fail to fulfil their constitutional duties, AfriForum will exercise pressure to ensure that our water resources and environment are not polluted,” concludes Grobbelaar.