TZANEEN – Raw sewage spilling into rivers, crumbling infrastructure, and residents falling ill, this is the daily reality in parts of Greater Tzaneen.

While the Mopani District Municipality (MDM) insists upgrades are underway, opposition parties and residents argue that the crisis reflects years of neglect and poor governance.

MDM spokesperson Odas Ngobeni admitted that wastewater systems across the district require urgent attention but said financial constraints remain the biggest hurdle. He confirmed that R55m from the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) has been allocated for refurbishments in the current financial year.

Seven wastewater treatment plants, in Giyani, Kgapane, Lenyenye, Lulekani, Namakgale, Nkowankowa and Phalaborwa, have been earmarked for upgrades, with budgets between R6m and R9m each.

Ngobeni stressed that while isolated sewage “lapses” may occur, the systems remain operational. “Even with the limitations that exist, we can confirm the system continues to function within the regulatory framework,” he said, adding that upgrading infrastructure to meet growing demand remains a top priority.

Yet for residents, these assurances ring hollow. Communities continue to live with overflowing pump stations, polluted rivers, and in some cases, no sewage systems at all. Critics argue that promises of phased refurbishments do little to address an immediate crisis.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has launched a fierce attack on both the Greater Tzaneen Municipality (GTM) and MDM, accusing them of allowing infrastructure to collapse and endangering public health. GTM’s DA Cllr Chrisma Bredenkamp described the situation as “a blatant violation of residents’ rights to dignity, health, and safety”.

In Golden Acres, raw sewage flowed into the Tzaneen Dam for two weeks before officials intervened, at Best Drive, a rebuilt pump station remains non-functional, discharging waste directly into the Letaba River, the Rietbok pump station is overgrown, with spillages going undetected and unmanaged, in Billy Maritz Street, the pump station has been down for months, releasing untreated waste even when briefly operational, in Eden Gardens (Extension 78), housing developments proceed without any sewage infrastructure.

Human waste is left in the open, creating “one of the most foul, hazardous, and undignified environments imaginable”.

She said that in Nkowankowa, residents rely on the Letaba River for water despite contamination from a collapsed sewage plant.

“The public health impact is already visible.”

A local pharmacy in Nkowankowa reported treating over 200 cases of stomach ailments in just two weeks, clear evidence, the DA says, of sewage-related illnesses.

The DA is pursuing criminal complaints against both GTM and MDM. A case opened in 2024 against GTM is still under investigation, while a new complaint has been laid against MDM over the Nkowankowa plant.

“The DA will not rest until the chronic sewage failures affecting the dignity, health, and well-being of the greater Tzaneen communities and the environment are addressed,” Bredenkamp said.