AfriForum this month audited all landfill sites in the Limpopo province as part of the organisation’s annual landfill audit campaign, when landfill sites in cities and towns with established AfriForum branches are measured at the hand of 33 questions. The civil rights organisation however found that certain municipalities will have to make urgent changes in order to adhere to legislation in this regard.
According to applicable legislations and regulations, such as the National Environmental Management: Waste Act (Act No 59 of 2008), a landfill site must adhere to certain requirements. These include factors such as access control, illegal dumping, fire regulations, fencing and rehabilitation. A landfill site must score at least 80% to adhere to this legislation.
Jaco Grobbelaar, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for Limpopo, says that all landfill sites in the province that scored less than 80% will have to be brought up to standard and that municipalities should take responsibility for waste management. “Landfill sites that are poorly managed have a very negative impact on the environment as well as the community. It is also the community’s responsibility to apply increasing pressure to municipalities in cases where landfill sites are not up to scratch.”
Three landfill sites have however passed the audit with flying colours, with the Tzaneen Landfill Site obtaining 100%. This landfill site was therefore crowned with AfriForum’s floating trophy as best municipal landfill site. “It is a perfect example of how a landfill site should be managed. We encourage other municipalities where landfill sites are not up to standard to learn from this management method,” says Grobbelaar.
The towns and cities in Limpopo performed as follows:
Afriforum will monitor the process continuously to ensure that those landfill sites that do not comply are brought up to standard.