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Yesterday, Democratic Alliance members of Parliament Kevin Mileham, Shadow Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and Johni Steenkamp, Shadow Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs, conducted oversight on various landfill sites around Buffalo City. What they discovered was simply shocking.

At Stoneydrift, an unlicenced (and therefore illegal) tip site, there was absolutely no security or management of the dumping process. Refuse is dumped wherever people feel like it, and various types of garbage are to be found, including medical waste, building rubble, commercial refuse and general household waste. This is particularly concerning, as the site is only intended as a transfer station for garden refuse. According to municipal officials at the site, the refuse was last transferred some 5 months previously, and a lone front-end loader was forlornly pushing the garbage here and there. Stoneydrift is alongside a wetlands area, and the tip site drains directly into a small watercourse. Charges have already been laid against BCM Municipal Manager Andile Fani in this regard.

The unlicenced Beacon Bay garden refuse transfer site was much cleaner, and had visible security at the entrance. Most of the refuse was garden material, although some general refuse and builders rubble was also apparent. According to local garden services, they are prevented from offloading at this site, unless a financial consideration is paid to the security. Municipal officials stated categorically that garden services were not permitted to use the site, and must take their material directly to the Roundhill Landfill Site in Berlin. When challenged on this, they could not provide any policy or by-law requiring this, but said it was “a rule from their supervisor”. The officials further stated that a single municipal vehicle (of 8m3) was operating to transfer the material to Roundhill. The other municipal truck has been out of commission for approximately 5 months.

The licenced Gonubie landfill site is privately owned. The municipality is in arrears on its rental of the property, and allegedly owes the owner, Gary Reiger, some R800 000, dating as far back as December 2013. Reiger has, as of 13 March 2015, closed the site, as a result of the municipality’s non-payment. It must be noted that this site was the cleanest and most secure, and appeared to have strong management in place.

The Roundhill Regional Landfill Site had very visible security in the form of a concrete fence, gates and a security officer who required visitors to sign in. On arrival, there was no management or supervision present and municipal vehicles appeared to offload wherever they liked. Attempts to contact the site manager/supervisor were unsuccessful, as was an attempt to contact the General Manager: Solid Waste, Ms. Nompelo Daniels.

From the above, it was clear that:

• Management and supervision of the solid waste process is poor to non-existent;
• The two transfer vehicles are not fully operational, and even if they were, could not transfer more than two loads per day each, which is a miniscule amount in comparison to the refuse dumped at Stoneydrift and Beacon Bay daily;
• Local garden services are bullied into paying bribes to gain access to the garden refuse transfer sites, or are required to travel some 40km to Roundhill;
• Only one (of 2) front end loaders meant to serve Stoneydrift and Beacon Bay is operational;
• The security of the sites leaves much to be desired, and makes it difficult to control access and dumping; and
• The environmental hazard arising from the Stoneydrift site cannot be ignored.

The DA acknowledges that the municipality has recently workshopped it’s Integrated Waste Management Plan, but is concerned that this document does not address the “nuts and bolts” issues highlighted above. The DA will therefore be submitting a number of parliamentary questions to the Ministers of Co-operative Governance and Environmental Affairs (especially since the Buffalo City Municipality is particularly reticent in responding to questions from councillors) relating to the environmental impact, the management and the operations of the Buffalo City Solid Waste Department.

DA Member of Parliament for Buffalo City, Kevin Mileham, has undertaken to write the Buffalo City Municipal Manager, Andile Fani, requesting specific commitments relating to:

i. The security of tip sites;
ii. The payment of the outstanding amount to Reiger;
iii. The return of all vehicles required to maintain the Beacon Bay and Stoneydrift sites; and
iv. A comprehensive assessment of the environmental risk posed by the Stoneydrift site and an action plan to address this.

The DA is committed to ensuring a healthy, clean and caring environment for all the residents of Buffalo City.

A photo of MP's Johni Steenkamp and Kevin Mileham (left to right) at Roundhill Landfill site can be found here.

A photo of the refuse at Roundhill Landfill site can be found here.

A photo of illegal dumping at Stoneydrift Garden Refuse Transfer site can be found here.

Photos of the Beacon Bay Refuse Transfer site can be found here and here.

Issued by the Democratic Alliance