BETHAL – The pump station in Joubert Street is apparently still not working.
This has residents up in arms and on the question of when it will be fixed, a hollow echo of nothing is the answer.
The Echo and Ridge Times have published several articles about this ongoing issue, but with no effect.
Residents are disturbed by the numerous articles portraying the lines, “could not comment at the time of going to press”.
The Human Rights Commission in Mpumalanga is currently investigating possible human rights violations regarding the sewage crisis.
Some residents have welcomed the idea and others think that it would be better to place the municipality under administration as was the case in eMalahleni (Witbank).
The field next to the Baanbreker Road is resembling a bathtub filling with low pressured water.
Each day it seems to be getting fuller, but instead of a bathtub, it is becoming the toilet of the community at large.
Mr Henry Masango was asked what measures have been put in place to restrict the flow of sewage into the field and whether any rehabilitation on the field could be done.
He said: “The municipality has inherited an infrastructure that has long passed its useful life, hence the many damages to the network, which sometimes lead to these spillage.
“This is coupled with theft of essential electrical appliances which renders the operation of the sewer system dysfunctional.
“Be that as it may, all efforts are being put together so as to have a seamless and uninterrupted service delivery to the community within a seriously constrained budget.
“The insinuation to place the municipality under administration is not going to be a panacea as some people might think.
“There are constitutional obligations for the municipality to provide a full basket of municipal services to all its residents, but also, the same responsibility is located on the communities to pay for their consumption of these services so that the service delivery system can maintain itself.
“Good municipalities operate on good financial support from its own residents.
“Therefore there would not be money pumped into our municipality by the province (because we have been placed under administration) if we the residents of Govan Mbeki municipality disobey the user pay principle.
“If the community can stop stealing electricity and water, then the municipality will have sufficient resources to subsidies other non-trading services, thus ranking with the best ANC run municipality of Steve Tshwete (Middelburg).”
