-
File image | Sewage spillage.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in the North West has raised concerns about what it terms, disregard for Chapter 9 recommendations, by provincial government departments and municipalities.
Commissioner Dr Henk Boshoff has released a damning service delivery report in Mahikeng, highlighting a systematic failure to render services in all four district municipalities.
Boshoff says the commission found the provincial government departments and municipalities to have violated people’s constitutional rights by failing to address the challenges of sanitation.
“Children are exposed to raw sewage in streets, households are left vulnerable to flooding, disease, and unsafe living conditions, and communities are compelled to live amid persistent waste and environmental degradation. These conditions demonstrate not isolated incidents, but systemic breakdowns in municipal governance and service provision”.
Related video | North West businesses hit by poor service delivery:
One of the communities facing the challenge of sewage spills is the residents of Phola village in Mahikeng.
These residents say the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality has failed to replace a sanitation pipe, which broke in August 2023.
One resident says they had to drop out of school,” I didn’t go to college because of the damages that were here, we had to fix all the damages that were here because the municipality didn’t come to the site and fix all the damages that they did, they did the damages and then they just went away.”
Another resident adds that it is unhealthy, ” I have asthma, every time I wake up, the first thing that I have to deal with is the bad smell, to be honest, and it’s unhealthy.” – Reporting by Tsholofelo Sekwena.
Related video | Ramaphosa meets North West government to discuss service delivery:
