Merafong accused of recycling 2011 waste plan
· Citizen
Merafong City Local Municipality has been accused of incompetence after presenting an outdated waste management plan.
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It is alleged that the West Rand municipality recently presented the 2011 plan as new, despite expanded human settlements, increased population and newly erected structures.
A waste management plan serves as a guideline for how the municipality should deal with issues relating to environmental protection, regulatory compliance and resource conservation.
Outdated plan raises alarm
The alleged incompetence was exposed by an insider who alerted the One Merafong Organisation (OMO), a group advocating for the well-being of the residents of Merafong and surrounding areas.
OMO secretary-general Buti Elliot Mtembu said the issue was disturbing because the presented plan did not consider the environmental changes over the years, making it irrelevant.
“Recently, the municipality invited the public to review and comment on the drafted integrated waste management plan. Shockingly, what was presented to the council on 30 June 2026 as a ‘new’ draft was, in fact, a carbon copy of the 2011 document.
“Looking at the original 2011 document and the recent one the similarities are striking. The language, the structure and even the formatting is identical.”
Calls for accountability
Mtembu said it was clear that the municipal manager not only committed an act of self-plagiarism, but also misled the council by presenting an outdated document as current and innovative.
“This act of deception is tantamount to gross misrepresentation. The situation in 2011 can’t be equated with the current circumstances, making this misrepresentation even more egregious. Such misconduct undermines the integrity of the municipal administration and warrants urgent action against the municipal manager and those involved.”
He said proper waste management was vital in Merafong because there was poor water supply and a sewage spillage crisis, which might escalate if not handled properly.
Wayne Duvenage, CEO of anticorruption group Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, said: “This appears to be another poorly planned matter by the municipality. I believe this could be a combination of incompetence and corruption.
“The municipal manager should conduct an independent investigation and hold to account whoever is responsible for this decision. Very often, though, it is the case that the municipal management are aware of and/or part of these irrational and costly decisions, in which case the province or Treasury should intervene.”
Governance failures under scrutiny
Political analyst Theo Neethling said the waste management issue should not be viewed in isolation.
Neethling said the ongoing crisis in Merafong municipality served as a stark political indictment of systemic governance failures, administrative paralysis and a complete breakdown of accountability.
“At its core, the municipality’s collapse is not merely a financial oversight, but a profound crisis of good governance, where institutional leadership has consistently failed to uphold the basic tenets of transparency, responsiveness and ethical administration.”
He said political and legislative interventions in the municipality have evolved from structured support to progressively stronger financial and governance measures intended to improve administrative accountability.
“Despite a range of interventions by national and provincial authorities, these efforts have not produced the desired improvements in governance or service delivery.”
He added the matter was a clear indication of a culture of corruption and poor management in the municipality.