Crossing stinky sewage on the way to school, no power at home: The struggles of Thaba Chweu

Residents of Thaba Chweu Local Municipality are preparing to vote in the upcoming local government elections after years of poor service delivery, including sewage spillages and persistent water shortages that have wrecked lives.

Thaba Chweu municipality includes Lydenburg, Mashishing, Sabie, Graskop, and Pilgrim’s Rest.

When The Citizen visited Mashishing township, sewage was flowing along the streets, highlighting the challenges facing residents.

The trip is part of The Citizen‘s travels across the length and breadth of the country to explore the lives, struggles, successes, and frustrations of everyday South Africans ahead of this year’s local government elections.

DA senior member Sonja Boshoff said sewage spillages had persisted for years, accusing the municipality of lacking the political will to resolve the problem.

She said sewage was spilling into a local river that flowed towards Limpopo.

“This is the new thing, and we have been pushing the municipality to fix some of the spillages in the area. The problem is that when they fix it today, next week the spillage is back,” Boshoff said.

“The infrastructure is decaying, and the municipality is spending much of its money on employees and consultants.”

Boshoff said residents were forced to endure the stench of sewage flowing through residential streets, including areas near schools.

She said unemployment was also a major concern, with small businesses closing because of unreliable services, including water shortages, sewage spillages, poor roads, and electricity problems.

“There was a day when I spent seven days without electricity. Luckily enough, I have a backup. What happens to those who cannot afford an alternative source of electricity?” she asked.

Still eager to vote

Despite these challenges, Boshoff said voter education initiatives showed many residents were prepared to vote.

“We have been going around educating communities about how to vote effectively. As a result, I realised that many people will vote, so we are expecting a huge turnout,” she said.

Pompie Ledwaba, president of the Mpumalanga Civic Coalition Movement, said his observations during voter education campaigns suggested that residents were ready to vote despite the government’s failure to deliver basic services.

“We have held hundreds of service delivery protests over the past 10 years, but nothing has been done to address the problems. I personally don’t believe in violence, but unfortunately, that is the language our government understands,” Ledwaba added.

He recalled that many of the protests had focused on the deterioration of service delivery in Mashishing.

Ledwaba said his organisation had conducted several workshops to teach residents how to make informed decisions when voting.

Residents forced to drink dirty water

He accused the municipality of failing to prioritise service delivery, claiming it spent too much money on incompetent municipal employees and service providers.

“The municipal employees have money to buy clean water for themselves, while the community is subjected to a situation in which they are forced to drink dirty water,” he said.

Ledwaba also questioned the municipality’s handling of sewage infrastructure projects, claiming that it had previously spent millions of rand trying to repair the system without resolving the problem.

He alleged that a contractor appointed to repair the sewage system had previously failed elsewhere, arguing that repeatedly appointing unsuccessful contractors contributed to the municipality’s service delivery problems.

Another concern, he said, was the lack of consequence management.

Municipality’s plan

Municipal spokesperson Ezrom Sekgobela said the municipality was implementing several interventions to address water supply challenges and sewage spillages in affected areas.

He said projects under way included refurbishing the Lydenburg Water Treatment Works to improve performance and increase water supply to meet growing demand.

The municipality was also implementing the Mashishing Extension 2 Bulk Sewer Gravity Line Project to improve the sewer network and address recurring spillages.

Sekgobela said the Lydenburg Wastewater Treatment Works was also being upgraded to improve its capacity, operational efficiency and wastewater treatment.

“These interventions form part of the municipality’s broader programme to improve water and sanitation infrastructure, address existing service delivery challenges and ensure more reliable and sustainable services to communities,” he said.