The FF Plus supports a petition from Emfuleni residents (Evaton, Sebokeng, Vaal Oewer, Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging) asking President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare the areas affected by the Vaal River sewage crisis a provincial disaster area.

In the petition, more than 3,000 residents are asking the president to intervene in a daily weakening situation. The petition refers to the streets, parks, offices and houses that are contaminated with sewage because sewage treatment plants are not functioning properly and hundreds of millions of liters of sewage are flowing daily to the Vaal River.

Most of the pumping stations that have to pump sewage to the purification plants are out of order and the 2 600 km pipeline through which sewage is discharged is broken.

The South African National Defense Force (SANDF) deployed as a rescue buoy in Emfuleni to do repairs and maintenance work has run out of money and is now being used in a security capacity to prevent pump stations from being vandalized.

The FF Plus will continue to put pressure on the municipality and government to actively address and solve Emfuleni’s problems.

The ANC is unable to run the municipality and therefore voters are encouraged to cast their vote and force the city council to act.