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Human Rights Commission to investigate Chris Hani District Municipality’s water and sanitation failures

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Dear MyPE

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has heeded the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) call to intervene in the total collapse of water and sanitation services in the Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) and will be investigating the Municipality for human rights violations.

Last month I submitted a dossier regarding these gross violations to the SAHRC and requested an investigation.

The SAHRC has now confirmed that the complaint laid by the DA has been accepted and will be investigated on the grounds that it contains a prima facie violation of a human right.

The residents of towns such as Cradock, Middelburg and Komani have endured desperate times, with taps running dry regularly. Wastewater treatment works in Cradock and Middelburg are also still non-operational, causing raw sewage to flow into the Great Fish River, contaminating water meant for human consumption.

Access to clean drinking water and sanitation are basic human rights!

Recent answers to parliamentary questions by MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Xolile Nqatha, have highlighted the CHDM’s utter disregard for the wellbeing of its residents.

The Middelburg Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) has been dysfunctional for the past eight months, due to vandalism and theft of copper and metal from the plant.

The DA has been highlighting the dysfunctionality of the Cradock Waste Water Treatment Works for more than a year and the situation at Middelburg proves that yet another WWTW is being left to fall apart under the management of the CHDM.

In January, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) surveyed the Middelburg WWTW and ordered the Municipality to repair it. For months the Municipality has done nothing, only recently appointing a service provider to attend to the issue and has begun the process of procuring the parts it needs.

I have written numerous letters to the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, to bring the total collapse of water and sanitation services provided by the CHDM to her attention. Still, I have, to date, received no feedback.

The ANC leadership do not care if residents do not have water to drink.

Next week is also the deadline for feedback on the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application that the DA launched, linked to the inability of the CHDM to provide water and sanitation to the people residing in the district.

In our PAIA application, we are requesting copies of all pre-directives, directives and compliance notices that were issued by the DWS to the CHDM between 2016 and 2020 for non-compliance with legislation regarding its water and sanitation competency.

The DA will continue to monitor the situation and follow up with the SAHRC and the police regarding previous criminal charges laid against the Municipality in this regard.

We will ensure all the necessary steps to rectify the ongoing pollution of our peoples drinking water.

Regards

Retief Odendaal, MPL
EC Midlands Constituency Leader

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