The collapse in the delivery of basic services in the local municipality of Matjhabeng in the Free State can best be described as non-discriminatory: no resident, rich or poor, is spared from the strong stench of sewage that permeates throughout, the roads riddled with potholes or the piles of uncollected rubbish.
“Staying here is very difficult. We live in human faeces day and night. We smell faeces all the time. Our health is at serious risk and we get sick from this sewage,” says Bongisa Sindesi, a resident in the large township of Thabong whose food-selling business is under serious threat.
“Our businesses are crumbling. People are not coming to buy from us because of the sewage issues. I stopped selling here and rented space elsewhere because customers complained about the smell.”
In most South African municipalities, these problems usually only confront residents in mainly-black poor townships but not so in Matjhabeng. In suburban Doorn, medical doctor Marinda Op’thof still has sewage running past her house, years after first taking the municipality to court.
The municipality was ordered to pump sewage out of the manholes near the house twice a day but has never done so, she told the Mail & Guardian. She was forced to return to the high court after the first order.
“Nothing happened. They just refused to do anything. They ignore everything because it’s not them personally who pay the legal costs, so they don’t even care,” a frustrated Op’thof said.
“I even had to move my consulting rooms because all the roads leading to my house are full of potholes. We have also had to fix the potholes ourselves,” Op’thof said.
Businesses in the area were forced to build a wall around the manholes to direct the sewage to a nearby drain and prevent it from flowing into the streets, she added.
According to residents, Teto Secondary School in Thabong has been repeatedly writing to the municipality, to no avail, after being forced to close its windows during classes because of the smell of sewage running right in front of the premises.
The municipality has failed to tackle the sewage problem because the treatment plants are not functioning, a senior insider told the M&G.
“The trucks have to physically pump from the manholes and dump it. The problem now is that the sewage in the drains flows straight to the dam. So we have a serious spillage at the dam. The water has been found to contain E. coli,” they said.
In Thabong township, many children have sores on their hands and feet, which locals say are caused by contact with sewage.
Sindesi said her children and those of her neighbours frequently become ill because sewage runs directly past their homes. Even when municipal workers come to fix the problem, it recurs almost immediately.
“The children are in and out of the hospital. They suffer from diarrhoea and develop rashes because when they play, they sometimes come into contact with the sewage,” she said.
“We end up taking them to pharmacies because when you go to the clinic, you are told there is no medication. Then you have to find money to buy it.”
Critics accuse Matjhabeng mayor Thanduxolo Khalipha of running the municipality to the ground and purging those who oppose him. At a community meeting last week, proposals were made to support an independent candidate in the upcoming local government elections.
Among those present in the meeting was activist group Voice for Change’s leader Tabile Masunyane, who laid the municipality’s problems squarely at Khalipha’s door, accusing him of ignoring advice to involve local businesses and community members in addressing the sewage crisis.
“There are local companies that have been doing this sewer work for a long time and we suggested that they get involved to resolve the issue. He told us to forget about that because he had already hired people,” Masunyane told the M&G.
“In one of his imbizos, a representative from his office said they had discovered ghost employees in the system. But the question is: who captured those ghost employees? We asked whether a case had been opened against that person but no one wants to take accountability.”
He said municipal leaders fail to take responsibility, alleging that even during regular community imbizos, Khalipha refuses to answer residents’ questions.
Residents want the Special Investigating Unit to investigate whether the R20 million spent on buying two vacuum jet sewer trucks was justified, with many believing the cost was excessive, Masunyane said.
“We went to the municipality last week to ask about (the) trucks but we were denied the opportunity to ask questions. We have only seen one of the trucks operating,” he said.
“When the mayor first arrived four years ago, he said these same types of trucks were damaging municipal infrastructure.”
“We are surprised that he has now purchased the same trucks he previously criticised. These trucks have always existed in the municipality and belonged to local businesspeople.”
“He tells us directly that he will not listen to the community because he was deployed by his political party. We told him that’s fine — we will engage the political party that deployed him during the elections,” he added, referring to local government elections due later this year.
In Thabong township, many children have sores on their hands and feet, which locals say are caused by contact with sewage
