The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has found that the rights of residents to water, sanitation and dignity were violated by the Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality and the Tswaing local municipality in North West.
The commission made its final report into the investigation public on Tuesday. The probe looked into complaints filed by residents in 2021 regarding sewer spillages and a lack of basic municipal services including water, sanitation and electricity.
The complaint, which was filed by Kebaneile Tumelo Phinda, Carin Visser and Floggies Lucas on behalf of residents of Agisanang in Sannieshof, Jachtkraal Farm, Delareyville and Letsopa, revealed that people do not have access to sufficient water and basic sanitation.
In the complaint filed in September and October 2021, residents also complained of raw sewage that flows into the streets, people’s homes, the cemetery and rivers in Agisanang, Delareyville and Letsopa.
The residents said they live in an environment that is harmful to their health and wellbeing, as the Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality and the Tswaing local municipality breach their constitutional and statutory obligations to provide services in a sustainable manner and to promote a safe and healthy environment.
The SAHRC final report has found that the rights of the residents of Agisanang, Jachtkraal Farm, Delareyville and Letsopa were violated by the local and district municipalities.
The municipalities were offered an opportunity to review the draft report in August 2022 and to submit their comments in writing within 21 days.
“No comments were received from the parties … The commission’s analysis, findings and directives in the provisional investigative report have been confirmed in this report unaltered,” says the SAHRC in the report.
The commission made several directives that the municipalities must comply with.
“The local and district municipalities must install a sufficient number of water user connections to supply a minimum quantity of potable water of 25 litres per person per day or six kilolitres per household per month to the residents of the Sannieshof, Jachtkraal Farm, Delareyville and Letsopa at a minimum flow rate of not less than 10 litres per minute; within 200 metres of each of the residents’ households; and with an effectiveness such that the residents are not without a water supply for more than seven full days in any year,” says the SAHRC in the report.
The commission has also directed the municipalities to provide the residents of Sannieshof, Jachtkraal Farm, Delareyville and Letsopa “with toilets which are safe, reliable, environmentally sound, easy to keep clean, provide privacy and protection against weather, well-ventilated, keep smells to the minimum and prevent the entry and exit of flies and other disease-carrying pests”.
Within a month, the municipalities in consultation with provincial government departments of cooperative governance and traditional affairs; and water and sanitation, have been directed to conduct a comprehensive assessment of water and sanitation infrastructure in Sannieshof, Jachtkraal Farm, Delareyville and Letsopa.
“The comprehensive assessment must reflect the cost implications of rectifying the challenges identified in the assessment,” says the report.
Among a list of directives the municipalities are directed to prevent the spillage of raw sewage into the streets and homes; and into rivers and to prevent backflows of sewage when residents flush toilets in their homes.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa.
