POLOKWANE – AfriForum’s 2025 landfill site audit, released recently, shows South Africa is grappling with a deepening waste management crisis, with Polokwane Municipality once again featuring among the worst performers.

This raises serious concerns for the city’s ambitions of becoming a metro.

The report highlights that municipalities continue to neglect even the most basic requirements for responsible waste management.

Of the 169 landfill sites audited nationwide this year, only 38 (a fifth) passed. The remaining 131, nearly four out of five, were found to pose risks to the environment and public health.

In Limpopo, facilities in Polokwane, Lephalale, Elias Motsoaledi, Maruleng, Ephraim Mogale, Musina, Modimolle-Mookgophong, Ba-Phalaborwa, Mogalakwena, Thabazimbi, Greater Tzaneen and Bela-Bela were audited.

Only the Greater Tzaneen Municipality met the minimum compliance standards.

Limpopo’s audit compliance remains stagnant at 7%, ranking the province second worst after the Free State.

AfriForum noted serious failings: broken weighbridges, lack of access control, unchecked dumping of hazardous waste such as animal carcasses and tyres, rubbish left uncovered and smouldering fires, and unusable machinery. In some cases, staff were absent, while informal reclaimers lived and worked on sites without safety gear.

“These are not minor issues. They show how municipal collapse fuels pollution, health risks and lawlessness,” and Afriforum statement reads.

Effective management, the organisation said, requires basic measures such as displaying site permits, access control, working weighbridges, proper record-keeping, compacting and covering waste daily, functioning machinery, and limiting access to registered reclaimers in safe, designated areas.

The environmental impact of neglect is severe.

Poorly managed leachate contaminates soil and water, uncontrolled fires and methane emissions pollute the air, and hazardous waste threatens communities. Dump sites also become breeding grounds for flies and rats, spreading disease.

The Polokwane Municipality did not respond to repeated requests for comment.