Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Carina Serfontein and Sesotho soundbite by Cllr Joseph Mbele with picture here
The Democratic Alliance calls for urgent intervention in Edenville, where residents continue to report overflowing sewage pits while the municipality relies on insufficient capacity to service the town.
Ngwathe Municipality’s own annual report confirms that Edenville does not have a conventional sewer network and that sewage must be collected and transported by municipal trucks.
One operational truck is simply not sufficient to service the whole of Edenville effectively and consistently.
Residents regularly report overflowing pits and request assistance, but without sufficient vehicles and a clear, properly managed servicing programme, backlogs develop and households are left exposed to raw sewage.
This is a serious public-health and service-delivery concern. The Free State High Court has already recognised recurring sewage spillages within Ngwathe as posing immediate risks to public health, human dignity and the environment.
The DA therefore calls on the Ngwathe administration to urgently:
- Compile a comprehensive status report of all sewage pits in Edenville, identifying pits that are full, overflowing or require urgent attention.
- Develop and publish a clear servicing schedule covering the entire town, so that every area is serviced systematically and residents know when collections will take place.
- Provide additional operational vehicles and capacity, as one truck cannot reasonably provide a reliable service to the whole of Edenville.
- Establish a system to record and track residents’ complaints and ensure that reported overflows are attended to urgently.
- Put contingency arrangements in place when a vehicle breaks down or is unavailable.
This cannot continue to be managed from one complaint or overflow to the next.
Edenville needs a planned service, not a reactive one.
Residents deserve a reliable sanitation service, a clear schedule and sufficient municipal resources to prevent sewage pits from overflowing in the first place.
The DA will continue to raise this matter until a workable and sustainable servicing plan is implemented for Edenville.
Ngwathe can work, but basic services must work.