Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

Only 26% of landfill sites in North West meet standards, AfriForum audit shows

Only 26%, or five out of the 19 landfill sites and transfer stations audited this year as part of AfriForum’s annual landfill audit in North West, meet the minimum requirements for responsible waste management. The sites that passed this year’s audit are the Hartebeesfontein landfill in the Madibeng Local Municipality; the Mooinooi site, which is privately operated by Interwaste; the Felophepa landfill in Potchefstroom (JB Marks Local Municipality); the Waterval landfill in the Rustenburg Local Municipality; and the Vryburg landfill in the Naledi Local Municipality.

The Felophepa landfill performed significantly better this year than in the previous two years, passing the audit for the first time since 2023 with a compliance score of 92%. In 2024 and 2025, this site had recorded scores of only 52% and 50%, respectively, in the same audit.

According to Alta Pretorius, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for the Mooi River, the performance of this Potchefstroom landfill confirms that the decline of a critical municipal service can be halted and transformed into a success story. “This site passed the AfriForum audit in 2022 and 2023, managing – after two years of poor performance – to get its compliance regarding responsible waste management back on track. Time will tell whether this improvement will be sustained, but AfriForum will monitor it closely and keep an eye out for any issues that may arise,” emphasises Pretorius.

Despite the success of sites such as these and the Vryburg landfill site, which recorded compliance scores of 48% and 74% in 2024 and 2025 respectively, and managed to pass the audit for the first time this year, the province continues to perform extremely poorly. This year, North West performed the worst, alongside the Free State and the Northern Cape, achieving an average compliance score of only 40%. The Free State recorded an average compliance score of 19% this year, while the Northern Cape managed to scrape together only 14%.

The Western Cape topped the audit rankings this year with an average compliance score of 66%, while Gauteng performed second-best with an average compliance score of 64%.

This year, AfriForum audited 132 landfill sites and transfer stations across all nine provinces; however, only 30 sites (or 23% of the total) met at least 80% of the audit requirements. This indicates that, on average, approximately eight out of every ten sites nationwide exhibit serious shortcomings in infrastructure, operational management or compliance with basic requirements.

According to AfriForum’s Landfill Audit Report, which has just been released, sites in North West – despite their overall poor performance – have nevertheless improved upon last year’s record, raising the average provincial compliance score from 33% in 2022 to 40% in 2026.

Of the 19 landfill sites audited in North West, the following six sites failed to even reach a compliance score of 20% (the compliance score is indicated in brackets):

Swartruggens landfill site, Kgetleng River Local Municipality (0)
Lichtenburg landfill site, Ditsobotla Local Municipality (2)
Ventersdorp landfill site, JB Marks Local Municipality (6)
Koster landfill site, Kgetleng River Local Municipality (6)
Coligny landfill site, Ditsobotla Local Municipality (16)
Sannieshof landfill site, Tswaing Local Municipality (18)

Armand Viljoen, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for the Marico district, explains that the Tswaing and Kgetleng River Municipalities have continued their long-standing poor performance this year.

Of the two sites audited within the Tswaing Municipality (namely the Delareyville and Sannieshof landfill sites) only an average compliance score of 19% was recorded. The situation in the Kgetleng River Municipality is even more dire; across the two sites audited there (in Koster and Swartruggens), only an average compliance score of 3% was recorded.

“This poor performance aligns with the broader decline and persistent, substandard service delivery that has been observed in these two municipalities for years,” explains Viljoen. “Good Governance Africa’s 2024 index, which assessed the performance of municipalities across the country, ranks the Tswaing and Kgetleng River Municipalities 182nd and 184th, respectively, out of 205 municipalities nationwide. This ranking confirms that the findings from AfriForum’s landfill audit – regarding waste disposal sites in these municipalities – also hold true for other aspects of service delivery and municipal management within the Tswaing and Kgetleng River Municipalities.”

“Effective waste management is non-negotiable and a matter that has a far-reaching impact on people and the environment. There is no longer time for excuses – the municipalities’ poor performance in this audit clearly indicates that we are heading toward a disaster,” concludes Pretorius.

Earlier this month, AfriForum submitted its report to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) in Pretoria. In the meantime, the civil rights organisation will continue to monitor municipal landfill sites annually and engage with authorities, industry stakeholders, and communities regarding practical solutions for the country’s waste management challenges. The organisation also encourages communities to become actively involved in responsible waste management, recycling and local initiatives that reduce the volume of waste sent to landfill sites.

Vullisterreinverslag 2026_ENG_FINAAL Download