Municipality's failed project concerns eMbalenhle residents
Gert Sibande District Municipality must now fix the sewerage plant and pump station two years later.
Residents of Ext 25 say they are living in fear and frustration after a stalled municipal infrastructure project left an open trench that has remained unaddressed for two years.
The project, meant to install a bulk sewer line and pump station, was halted after the Govan Mbeki Municipality terminated the contractor’s contract in 2024 because of poor performance.
According to the community, since then, the site has been abandoned, despite ongoing sewer spillages affecting nearby homes.
Residents raised serious safety concerns, noting that the trench, now filled with water, remains unbarricaded and poses a safety risk to children and passersby.
One of the residents, Sipho Skhonde, said it is alarming that no progress has been made since the contractor’s termination.
“The contractor was terminated in 2024; now it is 2026,” said Skhonde. The construction site was left excavated, which poses a danger to our children and us.
“The dam that they created and left is not only dangerous but is a sign of incompetent leadership.
“We are lucky that no one has drowned or been injured.”
Another resident, Vusumuzi Msomi, who lives near the trench, described how the community took it upon themselves to monitor the area.
“We patrol the trench, especially on weekends and after school, to make sure children do not go there,” he said.
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Frustration has also grown over the municipality’s reported decision to hand over the project to the Gert Sibande District Municipality as an implementing agent, instead of appointing a new contractor.
Some residents have questioned whether the project was ever intended to resolve sewer issues, alleging possible mismanagement of funds. Residents are now calling for urgent intervention and transparency.
“We urge the municipality to fast-track the construction of the Ext 25 sewer pump station before lives are lost in that trench,” Msomi added.
The community demands accountability and immediate action to secure the hazardous site and complete the long-delayed infrastructure project.
The Mayor of Govan Mbeki Municipality, Nhlakanipho Zuma, appealed to the District Municipality in September last year to urgently intervene in resolving the ongoing sewage crisis in eMbalenhle.
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Zuma made the call during the GSDM Integrated Development Plan consultation meeting held in September last year at the Kgotso Community Hall in eMbalenhle.
“As the municipality, we are polluting the area through these sewage spills in eMbalenhle. We need urgent intervention. We are appealing to the district to fast-track its intervention,” said Zuma.
District Mayor Walter Mngomezulu acknowledged that sewage spillages remain one of the most pressing service delivery challenges in the Govan Mbeki municipal area.
He said work, funded by the Department of Water and Sanitation and implemented by the district, is underway to upgrade the sewer pump station in eMbalenhle as well as the bulk line from Ext 25.
Mngomezulu said at the time that the entire upgrade could cost between R600m and R1b because extensive corrective work is required.
He also highlighted poor workmanship in the past, including undersized pipes, incomplete connections for RDP houses and a flawed wastewater treatment plant design that has compounded the crisis.
He further said the preliminary design report has already been approved, and they are waiting for feedback on the water license.
