Matjhabeng Municipality must intervene in Welkom sewage crisis – AfriForum
AfriForum demands an urgent investigation into the delay in repairing the sewage network in Riebeeckstad, Welkom, where residents have had to deal with a constant flow of raw sewage in Lima and Norman Streets for months. In a letter that this civil rights organisation sent today to the Matjhabeng Local Municipality, AfriForum also demands the immediate rectification of the problem and the compilation of a sustainable action plan to prevent the recurring sewage problems in this neighbourhood.
For months, Riebeeckstad residents have endured a terrible sewer overflow that spills into the streets and, in some cases, even homes.
The Matjhabeng Municipality now has seven days to respond in writing to AfriForum’s demands.
According to the Department of Water and Sanitation, persistent poor maintenance and vandalism are the reasons for the serious problems with sanitation infrastructure in the Matjhabeng Municipality. The Department stated in March this year that 9 of the Municipality’s 11 sewage treatment plants, 42 pumping stations and more than 1 500 km of the sewer network were clogged, resulting in sewage flooding in large parts of the Municipality – including Welkom, Virginia and Ventersburg.
The current sewage overflows follow the Department’s expenditure of R1,2 billion –out of a budgeted R4,2 billion – to upgrade the Municipality’s sanitation infrastructure. The upgrade project launched in 2022 and was approximately 46% complete by March of this year.
Despite the alleged progress on the refurbishment project, residents of the Municipality continue to suffer greatly. The situation causes damage to private property and exposes residents to severe health and environmental risks.
According to Jaco Grobbelaar, AfriForum’s Regional Head for the Central Region, residents are clearly not yet reaping the benefits of the so-called progress made in refurbishing the Municipality’s sanitation infrastructure.
“The ongoing exposure of residents to raw sewage is unacceptable. Access to proper sanitation is not a luxury but a basic service to which every resident is entitled. When sewage ends up in streets, yards, and homes, it indicates serious shortcomings in the municipality’s infrastructure maintenance and service delivery,” says Grobbelaar.
Grobbelaar warns that dilapidated infrastructure and poor service delivery will continue as long as incompetent municipal management and cadre deployment are allowed to flourish in local governments.
AfriForum is now awaiting feedback from the Municipality. The organisation will monitor the matter closely and consider further steps if the Municipality does not take effective action to resolve the problem within a reasonable time.
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