Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork

Chapter 6: Down at the dumpsdeepening crisis. 97 Both audits produce long lists of transgressions of the DWAF’spermit requirements, including:- The system for collecting leachate had collapsed and the aquifer beneath thelandfill was polluted. The build up of leachate created the risk of the landfillslipping. The stormwater system was also failing.- The gas gathering and flaring system was dysfunctional, creating the potentialfor a catastrophic explosion;- At the working face, dumping was mismanaged, the compactor was brokendown and the bulldozer close to break down, and cover material was inadequateor not available. In consequence, garbage and waste food was exposed and abreeding ground for flies and rats;- Fires were burning on site, dust suppression was not carried out, screens to catchlitter blown in the wind were not in place and there was no site cleaning;- The perimeter fence was broken down and dump pickers (not permitted onsite in terms of the permit) had uncontrolled access;- Monitoring of air, water and chemicals in the waste body was not carried out,or not carried out regularly.In terms of process issues, internal audits had not been carried out and there were nominutes to show that the Landfill Monitoring Committee was meeting as required.Further, it seems evident from the reports that the DWAF had abandoned itsresponsibility for monitoring compliance, let alone enforcing it.For the most part, it appears that the state of the dump was largely the result of underfundingby Msunduzi, leaving the landfill without adequate budgets for staffing, covermaterial, maintenance of plant and machinery or monitoring.Waste pickers are also routinely blamed for vandalising equipment to take electriccable, ironically including the cable feeding the electrified security fence designed tokeep them out. The pickers themselves, however, speak only of materials that havebeen dumped. For them, these are abandoned goods which then become the rightfulproperty of whoever first claims them. They are not thieves. The pirating of workinginfrastructure for high value metals is scarcely limited to landfills and requires someknowledge of electricity. The possibility that regular waste pickers are not those who97 Mgungundlovu, External audit reports: November 2005 prepared by SRK; and January 2007 prepared byGeomeasure.- 154 - groundWork - Wasting the Nation