DA opens another case against local municipality
The DA continued its pressure on Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM) for what it said is the contravention of the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998, section 49 A, (1) (e), (f).
Spiros Couvaras, the DA councillor, opened a new case of the above contravention on Tuesday August 3. In a statement, Sydney Masinga, the provincial DA’s communication officer, said the technical team for water and sanitation has several vacancies, funded ones, and no effort is being made to fill these in these troubled times.
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“The futile excuse of the new budget is not acceptable. It is a funded position, meaning it is planned for and the salaries are paid from the income of the municipality. Furthermore, the technical teams are battling with one vehicle and work cannot be done. How can the residents accept poor service delivery as a result of poor management or no insight into the problems that are being faced? Our water losses are at an all-time high of over 72%, and the residents are paying an astronomical amount for services that are not there,” said Couvaras. Sewage and sanitation problems have also been reported. Some rivers are reportedly polluted with sewage and are unfit for human consumption.
The DA said the landfill site is not being maintained and every environmental by-law is being transgressed to the detriment of the residents, who are being exposed to huge health hazards. This is in the Lydenburg and Mashishing area. “Section 71 of the MFMA 56 of 2000 regulates that a monthly financial report is tabled through the executives to the council within ten days after the month-end, which should then be published on the municipality’s website and with National Treasury. This is not done at all. No assistance is being sought and the path to destruction is now a highway. A case against TCLM was opened in 2020. It is clear that the accounting authority and the executive mayor have no idea how to manage the municipality.
“The DA believes in seeing that residents get a government that will provide transparency, good governance and quality service delivery,” said Couvaras. This new case follows previous articles on the matter over the last 18 months.
The latest article (Steelburger/ Lydenburg News, Thursday July 29) reported that the environmental management inspectors of the criminal investigations section under Mpumalanga Environmental Affairs (Green Scorpions) and Blue Scorpions (under the Department of Water and Sanitation) are still investigating several sites in and around Lydenburg. The case included the Lydenburg Wastewater Treatment Works (July 2020) and Extension 2 and 8’s pump stations, which reportedly cause direct contamination of the Dorps and Marambane rivers. Sputnik Ratau, the spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation, said intentional or negligent pollution of water resources is regarded as an offence in terms of section 151 of the National Water Act, 1998. “It is the property and responsibility of the municipality. The department and the Mpumalanga Green Scorpions of the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environment Affairs, have undertaken the criminal enforcement route as a last resort,” said Ratau.
