Landfills real dumps

Video

GRAAFF-REINET NEWS AND VIDEO - A shocking video taken by a resident shows how garbage and all sorts of litter are dumped on the access road to the Aberdeen landfill site - even by a municipal vehicle.

The video, available at www.graaffreinetadvertiser.com, was filmed in the wake of the mayoral newsletter, From the Mayor's Desk, dated 27 January 2023, in which Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality Mayor Willem Safers, announced that the municipality is in the process of rehabilitating the Graaff-Reinet and Aberdeen landfill sites.

According to Safers, they were attending to the access roads to the landfill site in Graaff-Reinet, following which, a team would proceed to Aberdeen to rehabilitate the Aberdeen landfill site.

Safers's announcement came after Samantha Graham-Maré, DA Member of Parliament, submitted a written request to the Green Scorpions on 13 January to launch an investigation into these refuse sites. Graham-Maré pointed out the severity of the municipality's non-compliance with the National Environment Waste Management Act and stated that she is "willing to lay criminal charges against the municipality in this respect". She further stated she is deeply concerned by the environmental degradation resulting from the municipality's failure to properly manage the site. "The landfill sites in Graaff-Reinet and Aberdeen have become completely unmanageable. The waste and litter are strewn for kilometres and dumping starts at the road entrance to these sites - a fair distance from the actual disposal site," she said.

She added that the road to the Graaff-Reinet site, from the Adendorp side, is completely blocked with waste and cannot be used. As a result, the municipality appears to be dropping waste at the main road from Adendorp. This allegation is also made by residents from both towns.

Mayor doesn't talk to media

Safers was not prepared to respond to Graaff-Reinet Advertiser's request for comment on the allegations that the municipality itself is responsible for dumping on the access roads to the landfill sites. He stated that the municipality is in the process of appointing a media liaison officer and that media enquiries will only be responded to after this appointment has been finalised.

He stated that until such time, there will be no comment or response to any media queries, and that he will only communicate with residents via the newsletters published on the Facebook page of the Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality.

In his newsletter, Safers requests residents to "please dump inside the landfill site and not outside, as rubbish dumped on the access roads poses a health risk".

He concludes that "illegal dumping in our towns is still prevalent and that clean-ups of illegal dumping sites are done with limited resources". He asks residents to take pride in their neighbourhoods and surrounds and play a role in keeping it clean.