Durban - The DA in KwaZulu-Natal says in-depth oversight visits by the provincial Conservation and Environmental Affairs portfolio committee have revealed many shortfalls at most of the province’s landfill sites.
The DA says the Focused Intervention Study has found glaring inconsistencies between national regulations and what goes on at what are meant to be strictly managed sites.
“While the report and tomorrow’s KZN Legislature debate focus on the Kransfontein, Harding, Manguzi and Mbazwana sites, it is the eThekwini and Msunduzi landfills that must rank as some of the most concerning,” said DA KZN spokesperson on Environmental Affairs, Heinz de Boer.
De Boer says rivalry and gang warfare among litter pickers on the Msunduzi sites has reached alarming proportions, almost guaranteeing that the landfill will soon be in flames again.
Recently The Mercury reported of a joint operation involving Msunduzi Municipality security, the SAPS and Magma Security at the New England landfill site.
During the operation, a supervisor at the site was allegedly found under the influence of alcohol and in possession of drugs.
“Not surprisingly, the collapse of local government in Msunduzi and its horrendous political upheaval could be behind the ongoing and unpalatable landfill site issues,” says de Boer.
He said the committee’s insistence on inspecting eThekwini’s Buffelsdraai landfill leachate ponds has again exposed toxic water being funnelled directly into a local river.
“Often obscured and hidden from the public, landfill sites are a critical element in the growth and sustainability of cities. The economic potential of waste reclamation is enormous – but the associated environmental impacts are equally challenging,” he said.