The action group Kgetlengrivier Concerned Residents (KCR) is opposing an urgent application by the Kegtelengrivier Local Municipality to take back control of the sewage and waterworks in Koster and Swartruggens. The application was brought in the North West High Court in Mahikeng last week, while the hearing was yesterday (21 April 2021) postponed to 11 May 2021.
According to Carel van Heerden, KCR representative, postponement was granted so that the application can be heard on the same day as the application for contempt that the KCR and AfriForum are submitting.
“The municipality is being obstinate in its attempts to take back control of the waterworks. We stand firm that the works should not be handed back to the municipality without appointing a suitable service provider that will ensure the sustainable functioning of the sewage and waterworks,” says Johan Kruger, Director of the Pionier Dienstemaatskappy. The KCR appointed Pionier to provide and manage service provision.
According to Van Heerden, the recent returning of the waterworks to the municipality’s service provider proved catastrophic. The works deteriorated so badly in just a week that a return to the pitiful situation which resulted in the court application would have been inevitable. Van Heerden confirms that residents had no other choice but to take back control of the works.
AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit under Adv. Gerrie Nel assisted the KCR in compiling the court documents. The Unit will also support the KCR in the legal process. Adv. Nel will lead the contempt application.
“Municipal managers and officials should be brought to book for mismanagement. Pollution like this has far-reaching social and economic implications for the whole region, as well as a very detrimental effect on people who live in the vicinity. We simply cannot allow our towns to deteriorate further as a result of municipal mismanagement. We therefore decided to intervene ourselves within the framework of the law,” says Corné Cronjé, Manager of AfriForum’s community structures.
According to Kruger, they are working hard to find solutions in the short, medium, and long term that will ensure the sustainable and professional continuation of operational and financial management of the works t the benefit of everyone in the community. “Pionier cooperates with the KCR to find solutions that will ensure that the Koster and Swartruggens communities have sustainable and reliable access to water and sewage services. This is a golden opportunity to establish a new model for community involvement in service delivery and to contribute to the future of this country,” Kruger says.