The Democratic Alliance (DA) has submitted an urgent complaint to the Office of the Public Protector following repeated and escalating failures by the Ga-Segonyana Municipality to meet its most basic service delivery obligations, including its failure to address a potentially fatal public safety hazard.
In Cilliers Avenue in Kuruman, residents face a dangerous combination of persistent flooding and exposed electrical infrastructure. During rainfall, homes and roads are regularly inundated, while electrical cables lie unprotected on the ground and distribution boxes remain open with live wiring exposed and unsecured. In some areas, these cables run directly through standing stormwater, creating conditions where water, live electricity, and rising steam have been observed simultaneously. This presents a potentially lethal electrocution risk to residents and animals.
Despite repeated complaints from affected residents about flooding and associated life-threatening dangers, the municipality has failed to implement effective remedial measures. Instead, it has attributed the flooding to homes being located below the flood line, attempting to shift responsibility away from its own infrastructure and maintenance obligations.
The situation is aggravated by poorly maintained stormwater infrastructure. In one case, blocked and overgrown drainage systems caused significant damage to a residential complex. A qualified local contractor offered to clear and restore the system at no cost to the municipality. Verbal permission was given, but no letter of appreciation was ever issued despite the contractor having incurred significant costs.
Similar patterns of neglect are visible across the municipality, where widespread water leaks remain unattended and are routinely categorised as requiring “specialised work,” raising serious concerns about maintenance capacity.
When the DA raises these issues, our concerns about public safety are dismissed as political point-scoring, rather than being treated as urgent service delivery failures requiring immediate intervention.
The DA’s decision to escalate the matter to the Public Protector arises directly from the municipality’s undue delay in addressing critical service delivery demands, particularly where hazardous infrastructure is involved. This comes after memorandums and countless letters to municipal management have not elicited a response. The DA previously also reported Ga-Segonyana’s failure to attend to live electrical wires to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
The DA will continue to pursue all available avenues to hold the Ga-Segonyana Municipality accountable.