Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork

Chapter 6: Down at the dumpsThe Gauteng State of the Environment Report [SOER 2004] says that Sedibengdisposes of just under 40,000 cubic metres of waste per year. Calculating from Census2001 and 1996, it estimates that weekly municipal collection services are providedto just 48% of households. 30% dispose of their rubbish in “own dump” (it is notexplained what this means, but it may well refer to informal rural dumping whichmeans digging holes in the ground or burning rubbish), 10% in “communal dumps”(presumably bigger holes with burning), while 8% have no disposal services at all[93]. 99 The SOER registers a decrease of 6% from 1996 to 2001 in households withservices.Emfuleni is the biggest local municipality in the Sedibeng district with 28% of theland but 84% of the people. Most of the population is urban. Indeed, the area is nowthe southern extension of the Gauteng conurbation stretching from Tshwane in thenorth. Vereeniging, Sharpville, Tshepiso, Boipatong, Vanderbijlpark and Bophelongcluster alongside the Vaal River in the south of Emfuleni while Sebokeng and Evatonto the north of Vanderbijlpark stretch up to the boundary with Johannesburg. A smallproportion of the population lives on surrounding smallholdings.According to the Emfuleni IDP review 2008/9, 100 133,030 households have theirwaste collected once a week while 22,200 households in formal settlements and allhouseholds in informal settlements do not have their waste removed. Business wasteis collected daily from 1,453 stands in Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging. There arealso street sweeping services in business centres in Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark, otheroutlying business centres, the Sebokeng taxi rank “and all main roads”.None of the Emfuleni landfills are permitted. The old Zuurfontein dump, a silentmonument to consumerism right next to the upmarket Vaal Mall, stopped receivingwaste in 2005, was capped and equipped with a gas vent. DWAF issued a finalclosure permit in 2008. Boitshepi is Vanderbijlpark’s main dump and handles 25,000to 30,000 tonnes of waste a month. Its available air-space is not calculated but it isestimated to use up 270,000 m 3 a year. Palm Springs is a new dump taking wastefrom Sebokeng and Evaton and is growing rapidly. Its available air-space is stated tobe 264,000 m 3 . That this has been calculated seems to relate to plans to establish a99 The remaining 4% is categorised as “municipal other”.100 http://www.emfuleni.gov.za/docs/idp/idp_0809.doc. See p. 38.Wasting the Nation - groundWork - 159 -