Unrecycled landfill sites and densely populated areas with little to no solid waste management systems in Eastern Cape are adding to the climate change emergency as a result of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane emitted by waste.
These gases are linked to the frequent and extreme weather events such as prolonged drought, floods, water and food insecurity all over the world. In addition, the environmental damage caused by waste dumping interferes with nature’s ability to shield people from the effects of a changing climate.
The King Sabata Dalindyebo local municipality (KSD) in Mthatha has a population of 500 000, however, the municipality is serving more than 1.5- million people within a 200km radius. Mthatha, the economic hub of the OR Tambo district municipality, is densely populated, especially in peri-urban areas, and has no formal refuse removal service, which results in illegal dumping.
Waste is often burned or mismanaged to the detriment of the health of people and the environment.
Vuyayo Tsheleza is a lecturer at the Walter Sisulu University’s Mthatha campus, where she is completing her PhD in climate change and farming. With a master’s degree in waste management, Tsheleza said her research looked at how waste is managed, and much waste is generated in poorer communities with high unemployment. “Basically, I was looking at the generation rate by weighing the waste because we wanted to understand how much waste is produced in communities with different socioeconomic statuses.
“We wanted to look at how socioeconomic statuses affect waste management as well as how much waste is generated in these places,” she said.
Researchers looked at rural areas such as Zimbane, Payne, Slovo, Mandela as well as Southernwood, Southridge and Mbuqe.
Tsheleza said that in most cases the municipalities do not have the budget to collect waste, especially in places where people do not pay municipal rates for waste collection.
“In many cases it would be the illegal dump sites found at Payne and Slovo because people throw their waste any-where, even in places where they have skip bins. But because these bins are servicing a lot of people, they are always full and the waste is not regularly collected.”
The researchers found that waste in skips is burned, causing another health risk from air pollution and soil and water contamination.
Tsheleza has called on local municipalities to resume awareness campaigns in the rural areas around Mthatha.
Director of community service in the KSD local municipality, Luvuyo Maka said: “The level of refuse removal service is not efficient or effective due to financial challenges of maintenance and rehabilitation of waste disposal sites”.
The municipality has an integrated waste management plan developed in line with the waste management act, which regulates waste management to protect the health of people and environment, and provide measures for the prevention of pollution and ecological degradation.
The environment, forestry and fisheries department said its strategies include strengthening by-laws as well as education and awareness campaigns.
- This story was produced through the Youth Citizen Journalism Fellowship, an initiative of the Rural Action for Climate Resilience project that is
co-funded by the EU
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here
