Municipal waste collection has improved countrywide by only 2.7% between 1996 and 2001, and almost 50% of the population is still not receiving a regular waste collection service.  The metropolitan municipalities deliver an almost complete service, while local municipalities in many remote rural areas deliver no service at all.  Yearly assessments of the ability of local municipalities to perform their refuse removal and disposal functions, which is undertaken by the Municipal Demarcation Board, show a growing inability of municipalities (in terms of staff, capacity, and budget) to deliver efficient waste-collection services.

 

A total of 475 general landfill permits has been granted for the country as a whole, and 12 new applications are under consideration.  This represents a 64% compliance with Section 20 of the Environment Conservation Act, as evidence exists of more than 760 sites (legal and illegal) across the country.  There could, however, be as many as 15 000 unrecorded communal sites in the rural areas.  More than 300 incineration facilities were operating in South Africa in 1997, many of which failed to comply with the required emission standards for human health and environmental protection.