Nkomazi Municipality ordered to halt all developments until sewer network is fixed
This was after residents of Malalane and Komatipoort complained that their Constitutional right (Section 24) to a clean environment was violated by the municipality as it ignored sewer spillages and failed to treat waste water.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has given a preliminary directive to Nkomazi municipality to halt all new developments in Malalane and Komatipoort until capacity challenges in their sewer systems have been addressed.
In 2014, the Democratic Alliance (DA) approached the SAHRC to intervene in the Nkomazi municipality after various sewage spillages and inadequate treatment of waste water were identified in both areas. This was after residents of these areas complained that their Constitutional right (Section 24) to a clean environment was violated by the municipality as it ignored sewer spillages and failed to treat waste water.
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according to the DA, by then, the municipality’s Nkomazi–Usuthu catchment managing agency acknowledged the problem, but claimed that they had no funds to address it. This prompted the DA to approach the Public Protector and the SAHRC.
The municipality was also ordered to do the following:
• To develop a Sanitation master plan and submit it to the Commission as soon as possible.
• They were also given three months to put securities in place to safeguard their sewer infrastructure which is currently open to vandalism.
• They must also develop a special unit which will investigate possible municipal employees’ wrongdoings in extension 8.
• Ensure that existing and new developed infrastructure meet the demands of the (to be) upgraded sewer network going forward.
• They must regular or routinely do maintenance of their existing sewer systems.
The DA will await a detailed plan from Dan Ngwenya, the municipal manager of Nkomazi, on steps that will be taken going forward as directed by the SAHRC.
If they fail to act within the next three months, the DA will go back to the SAHRC and ask them to hold the above departments in violation of Section 28 of the South Africa National Environmental Management Act (NEMA).
According to Section 28 of NEMA, failure to prevent and remedy the effects of environmental pollution, in the course of providing adequate sanitation to residents, goes with a R10 million fine or 10-years imprisonment.
