South Africa’s landfills in crisis? Only 1 in 5 sites meets basic standards - AfriForum 2025 Landfill Audit

702's John Perlman chats to Marias de Vaal, an advisor for Environmental Affairs at AfriForum.

Listen to their conversation in the audio clip below:

Lawless and dangerous.

That's how AfriForum’s 2025 Landfill Site Audit describes landfill sites in South Africa.

According to the audit, only one in five landfill sites in the country meets basic standards for responsible waste management.

Based on inspections of 169 municipal sites across South Africa, the audit highlights serious lapses in safety, oversight, and environmental protection, from broken weighbridges and unsecured access to hazardous, unauthorised waste being dumped.

De Vaal says the audit focused on simple, visible criteria such as fencing, waste load inspections, and operational safety, all areas where many municipalities are falling short. 

He warns that mismanagement poses a direct risk to water, air, and community health.

With nearly 80% of landfill sites failing the audit, AfriForum is demanding greater accountability from municipalities and engagement from national authorities.

"... the solutions are actually pretty straightforward... security to check what goes in and out, a weighbridge, collecting tariffs for dumping... all the things that should be done, can be done with actually not that many resources... but for whatever reason, it's not happening." 

- Marias de Vaal, Advisor for Environmental Affairs - AfriForum

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Scroll up to listen to the full conversation.