The Democratic Alliance (DA) has requested the MEC of COGHSTA, Bentely Vass, to monitor Sol Plaatje municipality’s compliance to a judgment delivered in the Kimberley High Court last week in relation to ongoing sewage discharge into Kamfersdam.
The court order gives Sol Plaatje and the Municipal Manager until 12:00 on 20 May 2025 to submit a detailed progress report in respect of addressing the city’s sewerage situation. The report must be accompanied by a specified budget, showing when funds will be available to ensure compliance, an updated expert water analysis and progress report made in relation to issues including, but not limited to:
• Halting the flow of sewage, with an E. Coli content exceeding the legally prescribed limit, into Kamfersdam;
• Limiting the amount of treated sewage flowing into Kamfersdam; and
• Repairing the sewerage system and infrastructure in and around the Homevale Waste Water Treatment Plant.
Ongoing oversight inspections by DA councillors to the Homevale Waste Water Treatment Plant since 2019, and most recently in January this year, have repeatedly shown that Sol Plaatje is not serious about fully operationalizing the plant, which causes direct pollution of Kamfersdam and the greater Kimberley area.
It is a disgrace that, despite a previous court order issued in March 2024, Sol Plaatje has not moved with greater speed to address the ongoing sewage contamination of the dam that once used to be home to the world’s largest lesser flamingo population.
Sol Plaatje, under ANC governance, is unable to make tangible advancements in addressing the city’s sewerage woes and must be led by the nose to prevent Kimberley from further drowning in sewage.
I have submitted an urgent letter to MEC Vass, asking him to personally oversee Sol Plaatje’s compliance to the court order, which also includes long term monitoring of the situation by the courts. As the custodian of local government in the Northern Cape, Vass owes it to the people of Kimberley to help rescue this city from sewage.