Landfill smoke engulfs Lydenburg for days
TCLM also guilty of landfill site mismanagement after the historic May 10 verdict
The Lydenburg landfill site was partly on fire on September 15 and 16. By Wednesday September 21, residents were still complaining that they found it difficult to breathe due to smoke inhalation. Thaba Chweu Fire and Emergency Services took two days to attempt to extinguish the fire, but by Friday September 23 it was still smouldering.
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The Lydenburg Regional Court found Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM) guilty of seven charges in terms of the National Environmental Managing Act (Nema) 107 of 1998 and the National Water Act 36 of 1988 on May 10.
This included the mismanagement of the landfill site. Magistrate MJ Ngobeni imposed a strict deadline on TCLM, stating that the municipality must give the Mpumalanga Environmental Affairs’ Green Scorpions and the Department of Water and Sanitation’s Blue Scorpions feedback on how it would rectify and improve the situation at the landfill by November 1.
