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Criminal must be laid charges regarding the water and sanitation failures of the Chris Hani District Municipality

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Dear MyPE

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will request that the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, open criminal cases against the Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) and relevant municipal officials who are overseeing the total collapse of water and sanitation in the district.

Millions of litres of raw sewage is still flowing unabatedly into the Great Fish River due to the CHDM’s incapability to fulfil its water competency.

Today, 7 October 2020, I was joined by DA Shadow Minister of Water and Sanitation, Leon Basson, MP, in conducting oversight inspections at pump stations in Cradock and Lingelihle, and at the Middelburg Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) in the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality.

No water is flowing to the WWTW in Middelburg and accordingly sewage is not reaching the plant to be treated. The raw sewage flows directly into the Klein Brak River, which eventually flows into the Great Fish River.

Untreated sewage from the non-operational pump station also flows untreated into the Fish River.

The inability of the CHDM to fulfil its water competency is, therefore, contributing to the large scale pollution of the Orange–Fish River Scheme, which diverts water from the Orange River to the Fish River valley and is the Eastern Cape’s most important water source.

Mr Basson will now take the matter up in national parliament and will request that the CHDM be summoned to account to the portfolio committee of water and sanitation and give reasons why its water competency should not be removed. Minister Sisulu will also be requested to lay criminal charges against the Municipality and municipal officials. Mr Basson will also engage the national Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) to request that it intervenes and assists the CHDM in fulfilling its water and sanitation duties.

I will write to the EC Department of CoGTA to request a direct intervention in the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality, which consists of town such as Cradock and Middelburg and forms part of the CHDM.

Access to clean drinking water and sanitation are basic human rights and recently the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) heeded the DA’s call to investigate the collapse of water and sanitation in the CHDM.

In February this year, I approached Minister Sisulu, requesting her to appoint a Water Services Committee in terms of Section 51 of the Water Services Act of 1997. This would effectively mean that the water and sanitation competency would be removed from the CHDM, but I have received no feedback.

Last month I received documentation regarding the failures of the CHDM from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) after successfully launching a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application in July 2020.

The documentation clearly states that the CHDM is not fulfilling its water and sanitation provision competency to residents. It also shows the Municipality has ignored letters, notices, briefs, pre-directives and directives from the DWS without any fear of being brought to book.

The DA will not allow the uncaring ANC government to endanger the lives of our people. The water and sanitation competency must be removed from Chris Hani District Municipality.

Regards

Retief Odendaal, MPL
EC Midlands Constituency Leader

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