LYDENBURG – The lack of service delivery within Thaba Chweu has been in the spotlight the past couple of weeks. The DA has now dealt another blow to TCM when it recently laid criminal charges against the municipality for its refusal to attend to raw sewage leaks into watercourses and to correctly dispose of waste at the Lydenburg landfill site.
The charges were laid in accordance with Sections 26 and 67 of the National Environmental Management Act: Waste (Lydenburg SAPS case number 109/3/2014) and Section 151 (i) and (j) of the National Water Act (Lydenburg SAPS case number 121/3/2014).
This is not the first time that charges are laid against this municipality for wilfully or negligently polluting water courses or disposing of waste in a manner that could pose a health risk, but TCM is rapidly becoming a threat to the greater Ehlanzeni district and beyond.
The party said that raw sewage from unattended leaks in Sabie, Lydenburg, Graskop and Pilgrim’s Rest are polluting rivers and streams as far as Limpopo and the Kruger National Park, while burning landfill sites are causing potential health risks to tourists and residents along the popular Panorama tourist route.
“Given that the next few weeks will see thousands of holidaymakers and tourists flock to the area, Thaba Chweu, the Ehlanzeni district municipality and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs have a responsibility to ensure that people are not unnecessarily exposed to any health risk. It is clear that the task team dispatched to Thaba Chweu in October last year had been unable to provide the necessary technical and administrative support to normalise service delivery.”
The party stated that cooperative governance MEC Mr SPD Skhosana has no choice but to admit that his department’s interventions so far have failed, and that the only avenue left is to dissolve council under the auspices of Section 139 (1)(c) of the Constitution and declare fresh elections in Thaba Chweu.
