The illegal dumping of hazardous waste poses a danger not only to the health of scavengers that are directly exposed to it, but also to the environment when pollutants migrate into water sources and ultimately cause widespread infection and toxicity.
A concerned resident contacted the Vryheid Herald on Tuesday last week regarding medical waste that was dumped next to the R34 road between the Sewerage Treatment Plant and Lakeside Crossing. She took photographs and told the paper that she saw lots of used syringes and empty medicine vials called Bupivacaine (normally used as a local anaesthetic) when she went for her morning bicycle ride. Her concern is that a community is based close by and children often walk along that road. The Herald made contact with Community Services to inform them of the potential danger. Director of Community Services TS Mthembu and his team sprang into action and a supervisor went to investigate the site. They immediately arranged for a clean-up in the area and informed the Herald that they also found boxes of pills while cleaning. The paper was later informed that the area is clean and that the medical waste was taken to Vryheid District Hospital to be disposed of in the correct manner.

According to National Health Act regulations on disposing of medical waste, it says that: ‘The owner or person in charge of a health establishment shall ensure that healthcare waste generated is handled, collected, transported, removed, treated and disposed of in a manner as not to pose a risk, hazard or danger to human health and the environment AND the owner or person in charge shall ensure that monthly records are kept for each category of healthcare risk waste generated, transported, treated or disposed’. The act furthermore states that ‘any person in charge of a health establishment who fails to comply with a provision of these regulations; and or submits inaccurate, false or misleading information in connection with any matter required to be submitted in terms of the provisions of these regulations shall be guilty of an offence’.
Mthembu commented that, ” Abaqulusi Municipality received the complaint of medical syringes dumped near the bypass. Our team swiftly responded to attend to the complaint and collected the syringes. We then engaged with the Vryheid public hospital about the situation and they received the syringes for proper disposal. However, this matter still needs to be investigated. This situation can cause a lot of damage if medical syringes are not properly disposed of. We urge residents to report anyone who is committing serious offences of this nature.”

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The news provided to you in this link comes to you from the editorial staff of the Vryheid Herald, a sold newspaper distributed in the Vryheid area.