By Bernell Simons
After years of rising concerns over crime, violence and illegal activity at landfill sites, Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality has finally moved to ban scrap metal recycling and second-hand goods trading across all landfill sites in the metro.
The municipality this week in a media statement confirmed that the decision was taken following several consultations, mounting concerns over safety risks, weak permit enforcement and escalating criminal activity linked to scrap metal operations.
Mangaung’s Themba Vryman said scrap metal dealing is increasingly being associated with violent incidents, which amongst others include killings at landfill sites which has prompted the outright prohibition of the activity.
“The Municipality has resolved that scrap metal recycling and second-hand goods dealing will no longer be permitted at any landfill sites within the Mangaung Metropolitan area,” he said.
The ban is being viewed as one of the metro’s strongest interventions yet to restore control at landfill sites that have long operated with limited regulation and growing informal activity.
“However, despite the decision, significant challenges remain on the ground. Informal settlements continue to expand around several landfill sites, where families and reclaimers live in makeshift structures under difficult conditions, often without access to basic services such as water, sanitation and electricity.
“Community safety and environmental health concerns have repeatedly been raised, with residents warning that enforcement alone will not resolve the deeper socio-economic pressures driving informal occupation of landfill spaces, Vryman said.
Reacting to the announcement, AfriForum’s Christo Groenewald said the decision was a step in the right direction but warned that implementation and enforcement would determine its success.
Groenewald says authorities must also address the broader issue of informal settlements at landfill sites, arguing that regulation without relocation and proper enforcement risks shifting the problem rather than solving it.
MMM has warned that reclaimers who fail to comply with the new directive may have their permits revoked and could be denied access to landfill sites as enforcement begins.
