The High Court in Mafikeng found on 19 January that the Matlosana Local Municipality must start within 30 days to carry out the necessary repairs to the sewage plant in Klerksdorp.
This follows after the AfriForum branch in Klerksdorp sent an urgent letter to the Matlosana municipality in April 2021 about the dire state of the sewage works. The fact that most of the machinery at the sewage works is out of order means that raw sewage flows directly into Schoonspruit.
“Since April 2021, AfriForum has done a lot of work to help solve the problem. A specialist report was provided to the municipality, among other things, for the necessary repairs. The health risk of sewage works that are not properly maintained is enormous, not only for the people of the community but also for animals and the environment as a whole. This is also why AfriForum decided to bring this case before the court, so that repairs can be done at a fair cost for the benefit of the community,” says Petrus Coetzee, advisor for Local Government Affairs at AfriForum.
The ruling includes the following:
A declaratory order that the Matlosana Local Municipality fails to fulfill its constitutional duty – specifically in relation to the inadequate management of the sewage plant which led to sewage spillage and interruptions in the municipality’s service delivery.
The municipality must start repairing the plant within 30 days.
The municipality must give feedback to the court about the progress of the repair work within 90 days.
“People and animals have for years been exposed to the health risks associated with the municipality’s careless lack of repairs, maintenance and proper management of the sewage plant. We are therefore very happy about this ruling which calls the municipality to account and we are hopeful that we will now really see a difference,” says Alta Pretorius, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for the Mooi River.
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Read the original article in Afrikaans on AfriForum
