The Democratic Alliance (DA) has reported Sol Plaatje municipality to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), following its failure to repair a broken sewerage pipe that is causing effluence to spill into an open stormwater canal in Floors, Kimberley.
The pipe, along the canal on Recreation Road, was damaged by a back actor during a municipal cleaning operation in December last year. Repeated complaints and requests submitted by the DA, for the municipality to repair the pipe, have fallen on deaf ears.
The contaminated canal water bypasses the Homevale Waste Water Treatment Plant and flows straight into Kamfers Dam, the once world-renowned home to the southern hemisphere’s lesser flamingo population. Aside from harm caused to the flamingo population, the situation poses a direct health and safety risk to the community. The closest informal homes are situated less than five meters from the canal, with further settlements downstream, like Mint Village, also affected by the sewage pollution.
The DA reported Sol Plaatje and COGHSTA to the Green Scorpions in November last year, when community members, without the promised sanitation services and infrastructure, were emptying sewage from bucket toilets straight into the canal. While this particular issue has since been partially addressed, after pressure by the DA, the ongoing failure by Sol Plaatje to prioritise sanitation problems remains a hazard to the city, which is already drowning in sewage.
The DA has submitted a complaint to the SAHRC. We expect them to use their authority to enforce accountability of Sol Plaatje for speedily repairing broken sewerage infrastructure and protecting residents and the environment in and around Kimberley.