SAHRC subpoenas Emfuleni Municipality over ongoing sewage crisis

The Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) continues to fail to respond to an ongoing sewage crisis, the cause of health hazards to many residents in the area.

This was revealed by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), which recently subpoenaed ELM to provide testimony regarding human rights investigations against the municipality.

This stemmed from numerous investigations against the municipality concerning water and sanitation, human settlements and pollution. 

The commission said the municipality has failed to respond to the various allegations.

SAHRC senior legal officer Khululiwe Sithole said the complaints date back to 2022, and the municipality had failed to respond, with the commission having received various complaints regarding the sewage spillage issue.

“We also wanted to know what the municipality had done to address these complaints, and we have not received any response from the municipality over the years. Now we are at a point where we are unable to finalise and report back to the complainants,” said Sithole. 

Sithole said as a result, the SAHRC decided to subpoena the executive management of Emfuleni Local Municipality to come and respond to the complaints.

She said on April 2, the municipality visited their office to respond to the commission and they raised the issue of ageing infrastructure, saying this is something they are working hard to address it. 

“They (municipality) also said some of the specific complaints had been resolved in the last year and some still need to be resolved. The municipality also explained that some of the infrastructure issues have been delayed because of the debt to Eskom and Rand Water, which led the municipality to go to court with the two entities,” she said. 

Sithole said the commission is yet to go and inspect the complaints, areas, and sewage spillages to check if indeed the issues have been resolved. 

This is not be the first time the SAHRC has investigated sewage spillage problems in the municipality. 

In 2021, the SAHRC investigated water and sanitation issues, particularly focusing on the Vaal River and its contamination. The commission’s investigation revealed that Emfuleni had failed to comply with water services legislation, leading to sewage pollution of the Vaal River and widespread human rights violations. 

The SAHRC’s findings included recommendations for the municipality’s administration and the dismissal or discipline of public servants who failed to uphold their responsibilities.

Gauteng  MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Jacob Mamabolo earlier this year revealed that Emfuleni received more than R900 million towards its Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) and returned R636m of the grant because it failed to spend it towards improving infrastructure and service delivery to the residents. 

Earlier this month, the DA revealed that residents are still plagued by raw sewage despite more than R200 million spent on repairing the leaks. 

The party said this was, again, revealed by Mamabolo, who said 71 service providers were contracted to address sewage leaks over the past five years.

Responding to the situation, Emfuleni Local Municipality spokesperson Makhosonke Sangweni said the municipality is aware of sewer challenges affecting residents in notable parts of the municipality.

Sangweni said over the past five years, the Water and Sanitation Unit received an average of 16,000 work requests per year. He said the completion of these requests before the additional resources from the Section 63 intervention was sitting at 25%, and this number has increased to 68% due to the intervention. 

“As much as we acknowledge shortfalls with our sewer reticulation system, the municipality is doing all in its power to normalise the service. All 45 pump stations are in operation, reliably feeding our three water care works in the area. Measures to improve the system and service are already underway with the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) processes nearing completion,” Sangweni said.

Meanwhile, residents in Sharpeville said the situation remained the same, with raw sewage flowing into their yards. 

Resident Ouma Dithebe, 56, said she was worried about her health because she is suffering from high blood pressure and also lives with a newborn baby.

“This is sad, we have been living under these conditions for a long time and we are tired. This is not good for our health,” she said. 

Another resident Dipuo Motlatla said they have learned to live with the awful situation.

“The municipality does come and fix, but there is still no improvement. Instead, it is getting worse,” said the 34-year-old. 

Matseko Morake said this has affected her livelihood. 

“I sell food and this situation has affected my business. Customers are no longer coming in numbers like they used to and the sewage sometimes flows into the house and damages furniture,” she said.

manyane.manyane@inl.za