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AfriForum launched its national dumping site audit at the Hatherley dumping site in Mamelodi today. The media also had the opportunity to undertake an audit of the dumping site in cooperation with Chris Boshoff, AfriForum’s Project Coordinator for Environmental Affairs.

“According to applicable legislation and regulations, among others the National Environmental Management Act: Waste (Art. 59 of 2008), a dumping site must adhere to certain requirements. AfriForum translated these requirements into 25 questions which are used to perform the dumping site audit,” says Boshoff.

The Hatherley dumping site audit shows that the site adheres to only 36% of the minimum requirements. Medical waste is being dumped illegally, for example, which may lead to pollution of underground water. There are no signs of rehabilitation, no compacting takes place and rubbish escapes to surrounding areas. “We also noted people illegally dumping animal carcasses and bones. There is no access control at the gates, while the fences aren’t maintained. To top it all, there are animals grazing at the site and families with children who live there,” Boshoff added.

According to Marcus Pawson, Head of Environmental Affairs at AfriForum, almost 90% of all South African garbage ends up in dumping sites, whereas only 10% is recycled. Pawson also states that the results of the audit clearly show that ineffective management and poor training of municipal officers are at the order of the day, and that Government does not plan sufficiently for future dumping.

“In the next three weeks, AfriForum will be auditing dumping sites where there are established AfriForum branches. The results will then be compiled in a report and submitted to Ms Edna Molewa, Minister of Environmental Affairs. Molewa has already indicated that she wants to reach a cooperation agreement with AfriForum,” says Pawson.

Support AfriForum’s dumping site audit project: Sign the online petition on AfriForum’s website or SMS the name of your town to 45354 (R1).

Attached are the 25 point questionnaire

Issued by AfriForum