Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Dr Igor Scheurkogel MP and Sesotho soundbite by Cllr Stone Makhema. See attached pictures here, here, here, and here.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will call for a debate in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) to hold the Free State Government accountable for failing to support municipalities under Section 154 of the Constitution and for allowing the collapse of water and sanitation infrastructure. This failure has turned the province’s rivers into sewage canals, posing a threat to lives, livelihoods, and the environment.
The Free State’s collapse extends beyond its borders. Pollution in the Wilge flows into the Vaal Dam, threatening Gauteng’s water. The Caledon and Modder rivers feed Bloemfontein and the Orange system. Nearly 20 million South Africans face risk.
The Auditor-General has confirmed the Free State as the worst-run province in South Africa, with no municipality achieving a clean audit. This catastrophic failure is most visible in water and sanitation, where rivers have been turned into sewage canals, threatening the lives of millions and devastating the environment.
From the Vaal River to the Wilge, Vals, Vet, Sand, Caledon, and Modder, every waterway is polluted with untreated sewage. Two-thirds of wastewater plants are in a critical state, and almost every municipality has failed. Only one out of 19 even attempted to draft a plan after the national Green Drop audit exposed the crisis.
Proof of local government collapse:
- Mafube (Frankfort/Villiers): Persistent sewage spills contaminate the Wilge River. Despite a 2022 High Court ruling, discharges into the Vaal continue to occur.
- Maluti-a-Phofung (Phuthaditjhaba): All seven treatment works have collapsed, releasing 31 million litres of raw sewage daily into rivers that feed the Vaal Dam. Residents endure stench, disease, and livestock losses.
- Dewetsdorp & Wepener: With no functioning systems, raw sewage flows directly into the Modder and Sandspruit rivers, poisoning reservoirs that supply Bloemfontein.
- Matjhabeng (Welkom): The sewage works failed, while a R6 billion water debt pushed the regional water board to the brink.
- Mangaung, Kopanong, Nala, and others: Owe massive sums to water providers, undermining purification and supply.
The environmental and health fallout is staggering. Rivers are biologically dead in places, stripped of oxygen by sewage-fed algae. Families across the province suffer rashes, stomach illnesses, and exposure to polluted water. Farmers have lost cattle, and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has warned that the Vaal River is “polluted beyond acceptable standards,” yet nothing has changed.
The ANC is to blame. Court orders are ignored, oversight bodies defied, and officials face no personal consequences. In Mafube, a court order was openly flouted. Fines are paid with public money. Billions meant for maintenance have been mismanaged, pumps lie broken, and plants are abandoned. Even when the national government offered funding, most municipalities failed to act.
The people of the Free State deserve better. South Africa deserves better. It is time to end failed ANC governance and restore dignity, health, and safe water.