AfriForum demands Knysna Municipality rehabilitate overflowing Old Place garden refuse sites to curb illegal dumping

Knysna Local Municipality is under pressure to act urgently after AfriForum’s Knysna branch said the local “Old Place” garden refuse site can no longer function as intended due to overflowing volumes of unprocessed garden waste, inadequate access infrastructure and environmental deterioration.

The civil rights organisation claims that the municipality has had a detailed rehabilitation and management plan on its desk for months, yet implementation has not started. AfriForum says the consequences are now visible in the community: residents and businesses allegedly have nowhere legal and responsible to dispose of garden refuse, increasing the risk of illegal dumping across the municipal area.

According to AfriForum, both the Old Place garden refuse site in Knysna and the garden refuse site in Sedgefield have reached their permitted airspace capacity—meaning the allocated space available for receiving and processing new garden waste is effectively exhausted. When these sites reach capacity, garden refuse often has to be redirected elsewhere, and AfriForum argues that the lack of functional, lawful disposal options makes illegal dumping more likely.

AfriForum’s message is blunt: “There is no legal terrain where residents can dispose of their garden refuse responsibly,” it warns, pointing to the practical ripple effects for households and local enterprises.

For many people, garden waste is a seasonal and regular reality. Grass cuttings, branches and leaves accumulate quickly, especially after storms, routine yard maintenance and seasonal clean-ups. When a municipality’s garden refuse sites cannot accept waste—or cannot do so safely and properly—residents may turn to unregulated alternatives. AfriForum says businesses that rely on garden disposal services also suffer, because their day-to-day operations depend on waste removal and proper treatment routes.

“Garden services cannot do their work properly if they have nowhere to dispose of the refuse. This leads to financial losses and at the same time increases the risk of illegal dumping,” said Marthinus Erasmus, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for the Southern Cape.

A rehabilitation effort already started—then stalled

AfriForum says it has not only raised concerns, but also contributed practical work. The organisation claims that it spent more than R110 000 to repair the access road to the Old Place site, remove large quantities of refuse and partially rehabilitate the area in earlier phases of its intervention.

AfriForum also ties the current crisis to a measurable decline in compliance with responsible waste management requirements, using its national landfill site audit as a benchmark. The organisation says that in 2024, the Old Place garden refuse site complied with only 12% of the requirements identified in that audit. In 2025, AfriForum says the compliance level fell further to 4%, and in 2026 dropped again to just 1%.

While those figures are self-reported by AfriForum, the core allegation remains the same across the audit years: the site’s condition has deteriorated rather than improved, leaving it far from meeting the standard needed for safe, lawful disposal and management.

AfriForum says its ongoing correspondence has been persistent. The organisation claims it addressed several letters to the Knysna Local Municipality, held numerous meetings with officials, and developed and submitted a complete rehabilitation and management plan for the municipality to implement.

Yet AfriForum says the municipality has not acted. In its latest letter to the Municipal Manager, AfriForum requested an urgent meeting—arguing that it is time to move beyond planning and “implementation must begin”.

Why this matters beyond one site

The issue is not just a local inconvenience. Unprocessed garden refuse can become a public health, environmental and safety concern. When waste piles grow unchecked—particularly where access roads are poor and drainage or site controls are inadequate—waste can spread, attract pests, and create areas that are difficult for staff and contractors to manage. It can also undermine efforts to prevent contamination of surrounding land and water systems.

AfriForum’s warning is framed around environmental compliance as well. South Africa’s waste framework requires municipalities to manage waste responsibly and to prevent unlawful dumping and environmental harm. While municipalities set operational systems for waste collection and disposal, sites must remain functional enough to accept waste within permitted boundaries. When airspace is exceeded or sites become unusable, the pressure shifts to illegal routes.

In this case, AfriForum says that once the permitted volume at the Old Place and Sedgefield sites is reached, garden waste is being dumped illegally elsewhere, rather than being received and processed through lawful infrastructure.

Call for action, timelines and accountability

AfriForum argues that the current situation should not be treated as a surprise. It says it raised the problem since 2024 and has invested both time and money toward repairs and partial rehabilitation. However, AfriForum contends that the municipality’s inaction has allowed the site’s decline to continue, eventually reaching a level where legal disposal is no longer available for residents and businesses.

“Our goal is simple: to implement a sustainable solution that benefits the community, the environment and local businesses. We believe the time has come to move from planning to implementation. These developments show that the current approach simply does not work. The time for delay is over. What is needed now is action and implementation,” Erasmus said.

For Knysna residents, the next step is clear: AfriForum wants the municipality to implement the plan it has submitted and to ensure that both garden refuse sites again comply with applicable legislation and operational requirements. The organisation also wants a focus on rehabilitating the affected environment, combating illegal dumping and improving safety at disposal points.

Constructive feedback for the municipality

AfriForum’s demand is ultimately about operational reliability—ensuring that waste infrastructure can handle real community needs. As the municipality responds, residents will likely expect three things: transparent timelines for rehabilitation, clear communication on where garden refuse can be deposited legally during the transition period, and evidence of site controls that prevent capacity overruns and illegal dumping.

If the municipality moves quickly to rehabilitate and reopen functional access for garden refuse, it can reduce environmental harm while protecting the budgets of local businesses and the convenience of households that simply need a safe place to dispose of yard waste.