Health concerns have been raised after hundreds of discarded animal hooves and shins were found piled up at the Sibongile dumping site.
The site is not an official landfill, but is understood to serve as a temporary transfer point for garden refuse before waste is transported to the Glencoe landfill site.

Under South Africa’s waste management legislation, infectious or hazardous animal carcasses must be disposed of at a waste management facility authorised to handle hazardous waste.
Non-infectious carcasses may be buried or otherwise disposed of, including through controlled composting, provided the method does not endanger the environment or create a nuisance through odour, noise or visual impacts, and does not require a waste management licence.

Glencoe landfill received an impressive audit rating

The Glencoe landfill site, a Class B site, previously received a 74% rating in a provincial audit conducted by Afriforum and was identified as one of 10 KwaZulu-Natal sites that met the relevant standards at the time of the assessment.

People who witnessed the animal remains at the Sibongile dumping site expressed shock at the scale of the dumping and raised concerns about possible health and environmental risks.
“These carcasses are piled high and we have so many health concerns these days as we come out of the Covid-19 era and now the mpox concerns,” one resident said.

“People simply dump and these carcasses can easily infect the nearby streams that ultimately flow into the Steenkoolspruit.”
The dumping of animal remains also raises concerns about odours, vermin and possible contamination if the material washes into surrounding waterways.
The Courier has approached the relevant authorities for comment on the disposal of the animal remains and whether any investigation is currently underway.

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