Continuous sewage leaks cause potholes in Emalahleni’s roads

Continuous sewage leaks cause potholes in Emalahleni’s roads

We are once again deeply concerned over Emalahleni’s failure to address the numerous and continuous sewage leaks across the municipality.

 Sewage leaks in Ward 18 have become so bad that they have caused potholes in the roads. In some areas, the sewage flows straight into people’s yards forming hotpots of dangerous bacteria that could affect the lives of those living around it.

In July last year, we submitted a petition and requested an investigation from the Human Rights Commission into the municipality’s failure to safeguard its resident’s rights to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being. 

 As we await the outcomes of this investigation, it is becoming increasingly clear that Emalahleni’s current administration is not bothered by the fact that thousands of people are essentially living in their own waste, and the roads, which are already in a dilapidated state, are being eroded by the continuous sewage spills.

 Since 2006, we have lobbied for the repair of the sewer system to be prioritised in the municipality’s IDP, yet this has not been done. Placing the municipality under administration has resulted in no marked improvement in its ability to deliver services.

We have reported the matter to the administrator on numerous occasions but the communities affected by these leaks claim that they have never seen anyone fix the leaks. Their claims backed by the fact that the leaks still continue unabated.

A DA government would make use of the municipality’s administration period by hiring suitably skilled individuals to fix the crumbling infrastructure in order to make sure that basic services delivered to every resident in Emalahleni.