Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

Vaal Triangle sewer crisis: More charges added to charge sheet

Soundbite: Jaco Grobbelaar (English)

Soundbite: Jaco Grobbelaar (Afrikaans)

The court case against April Ntuli, municipal manager of the Emfuleni Local Municipality, was heard on 3 March and postponed to 4 May so that the charge sheet can be amended. The postponement follows after the state indicated that the investigation has been concluded and that further charges will be added to the existing charge sheet, including charges filed by AfriForum in 2024 and 2025.

This case stems from three separate criminal charges that AfriForum laid against Ntuli in 2018, 2024 and 2025 regarding the continued sewage discharges into the Vaal River. The charges relate to large-scale pollution that threatens the environment and poses health risks to residents.

AfriForum has also instructed its legal team to appoint an officer who will closely monitor the criminal process, attend court proceedings, liaise with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and ensure that the case is not delayed, watered down or unnecessarily abandoned. The officer confirmed that the charge sheet will now include all three of AfriForum’s complaints of sewage pollution.

AfriForum laid the third complaint in May last year after raw sewage flowed into residents’ homes due to collapsed infrastructure. Despite repeated complaints from the community and a memorandum handed over to the municipal management, no concrete action was taken. AfriForum was consequently forced to lay a further criminal charge.

According to Jaco Grobbelaar, AfriForum’s head for the central region, it is good news that all the complaints will be contained in one charge sheet, as they deal with the same ongoing violations. “Since we lodged the first complaint, no improvements have been made. The municipal manager ignores any complaints from the community, while our beautiful Vaal River is further polluted and destroyed. The community is fed up with a municipality that fails in its constitutional duty to protect residents and the environment. Therefore, we would like to see the municipal manager held accountable in his personal capacity by being imposed a large fine or even imprisonment.”

Grobbelaar adds that AfriForum will continue to pursue justice. “We cannot allow our nature to continue to pay the price for poor and incompetent management. Numerous warnings have been issued, but no meaningful action has followed. Someone must be held accountable for this environmental disaster and justice must take its course.”

Meanwhile, the community along the Vaal River remains actively involved in actions to clean up the river themselves. Residents recently had to pay out of their own pockets to remove water lettuce from the river due to increased sewage pollution that provided food for this harmful plant. Recent photos show that large quantities of raw sewage are still being pumped into the river.

AfriForum will attend the court proceedings on 4 May 2026 to ensure that the process is transparent and fair and that accountability is not evaded.