Statement by Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development

Statement by Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell

New regional landfill facility for Eden District

The Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning has welcomed an announcement by the Eden District Municipality that the municipalities in the region have agreed to financing the development of a new Regional landfill facility (RWDF) in Mosselbay.

The purpose of the site is to address the waste disposal needs of the communities of Knysna, George, Bitou and Mossel Bay and Hessequa municipalities.

Anton Bredell, Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning says the project has always been one of the top priorities for the province in terms of waste disposal. “We have a serious waste problem in the Western Cape. We are running out of landfill space and this district was one of the worst affected.

Accordingly the Department has for years been providing the affected municipalities with active support in this matter. The Department also continuously provides technical advice and assistance to the affected municipalities when required.”

Bredell says moving into the future it's going to get increasingly more expensive to deal with waste in South Africa. “We must become more efficient and more resilient in our towns and communities. This means we must drive long term change regarding measures like recycling and re-using material before we simply discard it.”

There are 9 RWDF’s planned throughout the provinces which are in various stages of development. Bredell says waste disposal solutions comes at a cost and communities and municipalities must play their part. “We must emphasise that local communities and their municipalities must accept the responsibility to deal with waste management – as mandated by law – lies with them. This includes driving programs like minimisation of waste, recycling and budgeting sufficiently for waste management.”