Note to editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Cllr Igor Scheurkogel and Sesotho by Cllr Thabiso Lethlake.
While Matjhabeng Local Municipality continues to waste money and fruitlessly spend generated income from ratepayers, the residents in Odendaalsrus are drowning in sewage and businesses are losing money daily because of unattended sewage spillages. Please see pictures and videos here, here, here, here and here.
The municipality’s negligence in addressing the sewage crisis is causing severe consequences for Odendaalsrus residents and local businesses. While the National Department of Water and Sanitation allocated a substantial budget of R150 million to tackle this issue in November 2022, the problem persists, adversely affecting our community.
The R150 million is part of the “committed budget” that the department used to assist the municipality, which amounts to R425 million in total. The funds allocated are to be used to repair and refurbish some of the 11 wastewater treatment works (WWTW), some of the 57 pump stations and part of the 25,929 manholes. A total of 51 of the pump stations and 9 WWTWs are currently not functional due to theft, vandalism, poor or non-maintenance of infrastructure, misuse of sewerage, and illegal mining activities.
For the past 4 weeks, The DA has requested officials to unblock drains in Odendaalsrus, however, each time we were informed that the office of the Executive Mayor had redirected the sewer jet truck with the necessary equipment to another town. Multiple residents have also complained that when they reported their issue to the municipality, they received similar responses from officials.
Businesses in Odendaalsrus CBD cannot function properly and residents cannot access their backyards due to being flooded with sewage. Ward councillors around Matjhabeng have become the customer care centre for the municipality as it has no functional customer care centre system to report the issues to the relevant department to ensure that officials are dispatched and feedback is given on the progress of the intervention of the issue.
In almost every council sitting the mayor promises that they are depoliticising the municipality however opposition councillors and their residents are continuously exposed to political interference that prevents services.
Multiple written requests have been submitted to the Municipal Manager to address these problems and safeguard residents’ health. We are initiating actions on multiple fronts, including submitting questions to the Provincial Legislature to prompt the Free State MEC of CoGTA’s intervention and queries to the National Assembly regarding the lack of progress in Matjhabeng’s sewerage repairs, funded by the National Department of Water and Sanitation. Additionally, we have filed a complaint against the municipality with the Human Rights Commission for investigation.
The DA is committed to bringing change across the country and therefore urges all residents to register to vote in the 2024 National and Provincial Government elections.