Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • Chess tournament leaves participants feeling grandiose
  • GM Direct publishing break
  • “Makhanda is in shambles,” says Ward Four resident
  • GADRA and Mobile Science Lab launch new science project
  • Ward Two residents buy own floodlights to combat cable theft
  • A town without a playground: where do the children play?
  • Women, Politics, Power, Patriachy: A feminist lens
  • Makhanda’s Links Royal House Gaokx’aob (Chief) has died
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Grocott's Mail
You are at:Home»NEWS»Citizens take action on landfill non-compliance
NEWS

Citizens take action on landfill non-compliance

Kathryn ClearyBy Kathryn ClearyJune 24, 2019Updated:June 24, 2019No Comments2 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
The smouldering municipal landfill on Tuesday 18 June. The smoke from the tip has perfumed Makhanda for over 2 weeks. Photo: Kathryn Cleary

Last week Grocott’s Mail reported extensively on Makana’s challenges with managing the smouldering municipal landfill site. Following two-weeks of burning and toxic smoke sinking deep into the community, the Grahamstown Residents Association (GRA) has submitted an urgent inquiry to the Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) Compliance and Enforcement division calling for immediate action.

The GRA reminded DEDEAT of the compliance notice issued to Makana in February of 2015, as well as a High Court case in September later that year, ordering Makana to comply with the conditions of their landfill permit.

Last week Makana’s Director of Community Services and Public Safety, Kelello Makgoka, said that currently the landfill was non-compliant; noting that the site had inadequate security, and was not covered and attended to on a daily basis. Makgoka stated that Makana had an aged and broken fleet of trucks to manage the site, and had little funding to attend the the issues.

Makgoka said that Makana was looking into hiring a private contractor to manage the landfill as well as establishing a material reclaim facility in the East side of town. He also added that they had anxiously been waiting since April for possible funding from the Department.

The letter further calls on the Department to investigate if Makana has followed through with the court order as a result of the 2018 High Court case, and urges the province to urgently fulfil its mandate in this regard.

Grocott’s Mail approached the Department for comment on the issue of non-compliance, and if the Department would be taking any further action.

Departmental media liaison Ncedo Lisana confirmed receipt of the GRA’s letter on Thursday, 20 June.

“The department is busy engaging the Municipality on the matter of the landfill site and GRA letter. Once this process is complete, the department will communicate the outcome together with the Municipality.”

Over the weekend, 22 June, residents took matters more into their own hands and filed an upwards of 30 (and growing) individual complaints to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). Grocott’s Mail has approach the SAHRC for confirmation of receipt of the complaints and will report back as soon as possible.

This is a developing story.

Previous ArticleDam that was cold – Polar Plunge #16
Next Article Makhanda’s vibrant street art
Kathryn Cleary

Investigative journalist; health, human rights, politics and environmental stories.

Comments are closed.

Tweets by Grocotts
Newsletter



Listen

The Rhodes University Community Engagement Division has launched Engagement in Action, a new podcast which aims to bring to life some of the many ways in which the University interacts with communities around it. Check it out below.

Humans of Makhanda

Humans of Makhanda

Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

© 2023 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.