Despite the fact that earlier this week it was said that repair work started at the Sebokeng sewage plant in Emfuleni (Evaton, Sebokeng, Vaal Oewer, Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging) on Monday 30 July 2018, it has still not happened.
The FF Plus received proof that there are no less than 16 pumps at the plant that are not functional. The evidence was handed to the FF Plus yesterday and it means that Emfuleni already finds itself in a humanitarian crisis.
The result of this is that sewage ends up in the stormwater channels as well as in the stream that flows into the Vaal River. The FF Plus councillor in Emfuleni, Gerda Senekal, confirmed this with an in loco investigation.
On the photos that Senekal took, one can see that the sewage flows ankle deep in places. The FF Plus has already reported the matter to the province’s Department of Water and Sanitation 17 times without success even though the Department issued the party a reference number every time and also offered the false assurance that repair work had been done.
Meanwhile, the situation in town is turning into a health crisis. At Vanderbijlpark High School, raw sewage flows here and there across the school grounds and the sports field is basically covered with raw sewage.
This is a serious health risk and rumour has it that some of the staff members and learners have fallen ill as a result. Farmers in the community can no longer use the water from the Vaal River for irrigation purposes either.
The FF Plus is left with no choice but to urgently take up the matter with the Minister of Cooperative Governance. It is clear that the Gauteng provincial government that placed Emfuleni under administration, has no idea how to manage the administration process and Emfuleni is even worse off than it was before.
The Gauteng government’s laxity exposes them to very large claims by the public.
Premier David Makhura, the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Uhuru Moiloa, the MEC for Infrastructure Development, Jacob Mamabolo, and the MEC for Finance, Barbara Creecy, will be held accountable for the humanitarian crisis in which Emfuleni finds itself.
Read the original article in Afrikaans on FF Plus
South Africa Today – South Africa News
