AfriForum’s Vanderbijlpark branch on 1 July directed a letter to the Emfuleni Local Municipality in which the organisation demands that the Municipality comes forward with an action plan before 16 July 2021 on how to solve the continuing sewage problem in the town.
A large portion of the field next to Alex Roadhouse is covered with sewage. The sewage flows over the Barrage Road to Flora Gardens and into the moorland. The sewage pipe running through this portion of the field to the water works is clogged, while a piece of pipe that was earlier removed by the Municipality was also never replaced. Businesses in the area in the meantime enlarged the trench to prevent the sewage from flowing into their shops and offices and generally this area contains a health risk to the community.
In the letter, AfriForum demands, among others, that the clogged and broken sewage pipes must be repaired or replaced, as well as that the area being contaminated by the sewage must be cleaned up by the Municipality.
“Contamination is a criminal offence. AfriForum laid a complaint with the Green Scorpions in 2018 and it seems as if not even this course of action was enough to force the Municipality to do something about the sewage. Drastic action must be taken,” says Stephanus (Butch) Blignault, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for the West Rand.