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 27% of landfill sites in KwaZulu-Natal meet standards, AfriForum audit reveals

Only 27% – or three out of the 11 landfill sites and transfer stations audited in KwaZulu-Natal this year as part of AfriForum’s annual landfill audit – meet the minimum requirements for responsible waste management. The success of these three sites (the Seadoone transfer station in Amanzimtoti, the Endumeni site in Glencoe, and the Empangeni site) is overshadowed by the poor performance of other landfill sites in the province.

AfriForum’s landfill audit report further indicates that sites in KwaZulu-Natal achieved an average compliance score of only 56% this year. This is marginally better than the Eastern Cape, which recorded a compliance score of 55%, but significantly lower than the Western Cape and Gauteng, which achieved 66% and 64% respectively.

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 suggests that, on average, approximately eight out of every ten sites nationwide exhibit serious shortcomings regarding infrastructure, operational management, or compliance with basic requirements.

According to AfriForum’s landfill audit report, which has just been released, sites in KwaZulu-Natal – despite their overall poor performance – have shown an improvement over last year’s record; eight of the 11 audited sites managed to slightly improve their compliance score.

However, Eugene van Aswegen, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for the province, believes that this marginal improvement is insufficient. “The Newcastle landfill, which serves the largest urban centre in northern KwaZulu-Natal, performed among the worst in the province – alongside the Paulpietersburg and Vryheid landfills – achieving a compliance score of only 34%,” explains Van Aswegen.

Of the 11 landfill sites audited in KwaZulu-Natal, the following four sites failed to even reach a compliance score of 40% (the compliance score is indicated in parentheses):

Paulpietersburg, eDumbe Local Municipality (14)
Vryheid, AbaQulusi Local Municipality (24)
Newcastle, Newcastle Local Municipality (34)
Hluhluwe, Big 5 Hlabisa Local Municipality (36)

“The poor performance of landfill sites in KwaZulu-Natal leaves much to be desired. For a province that has to serve approximately 20% of the country’s population, effective waste management is non-negotiable – an issue with far-reaching impacts 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 Van Aswegen.

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