Landfill bosses criminally charged over smelly KZN dump

Four senior managers of embattled waste management firm EnviroServ have been criminally charged in their personal capacity over the malodour emanating from the Shongweni landfill site.

Chief executive Dean Thompson‚ coastal operations manager Clive Kidd and group technical director Esme Gaumbalt appeared briefly in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. Treatment and disposal specialist Dr Johan Schoonraad‚ also listed on the charge sheet‚ was ill and could not attend.

As the trio sat in the dock‚ Shongweni residents who have long decried the foul smell coming from the dump‚ sat side by side with staff from EnviroServ‚ who arrived at court to stage a counter protest.

The four senior managers‚ as well as the company itself‚ face charges of contravening environmental air quality legislation. EnviroServ had previously been barred from accepting waste at their Shongweni landfill site by the Durban High Court.

State prosecutor Yuri Gangai said that seven lever-arch files of evidence handed over to defence attorneys representing the company and the officials in their personal capacity.

The case was postponed until November for the defence to go through the evidence.

Civic body Upper Highway Air campaigned to have the dump shut down over a malodour in the area‚ taking their fight to the Durban High Court. They contend that the foul smell has caused respiratory and health issues among residents — a claim which EnviroServ has denied‚ citing an independent report into the stench.