The DA in Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme Municipality will submit detailed questions to the Speaker and the Municipal Manager on the deteriorating state of sewer infrastructure in the municipality and are expecting a response at the council’s next meeting, as per the council’s standing orders.
This comes after continuous frustrations regarding the municipality’s destitute water and sanitation infrastructure, affecting the delivery of basic services.
This has also resulted in freshwater pollution, negatively affecting the quality of life for residents. The DA reiterates the state of infrastructure in this municipality is at a critical level.
Residents and livestock are suffering because of mismanaged and poorly designed sewer pump stations, broken pipes and untreated raw sewage polluting waterways including tributaries feeding into the Vaal River.
In our set of questions, we demand a response by the next council meeting on these issues:
– The allocation of funds from the department of Water and Sanitation over the past 5 years and the outcomes of these allocations.
– The number of contracts undertaken by the municipality to address water and sanitation infrastructure including performance and accountability in terms of reaching the goals of such contracts.
– The functionality of existing sanitation infrastructure across the municipality.
– Measures taken by the municipality to address pollution caused by sewage that overflows into waterways and open fields.
– Actions undertaken to mitigate risks identified in the department of Water and Sanitation Blue and Green Drop reports of the past three years.
It is important for the municipality to start being transparent and accountable for their failures. The municipality’s alleged mismanagement of funds intended for projects that are aimed at addressing the critical infrastructure is now catching up with them.
Residents deserve transparency and action that definitively address health and environmental concerns and ensure access to safe and functional water and sanitation systems. We will eagerly await the Council’s response on these matters to ensure our concerns are addressed.