By Selenathi Botha and Luvuyo Mjekula
ActionSA went on a ‘first-of-its-kind’ sanitation tour in Makhanda recently, led by the party’s Team FixSA member for infrastructure Michael Beaumont and provincial chairperson Athol Trollip.
With the collapse of sanitation infrastructure in South Africa, ordinary South Africans across the country have had to live in inhumane conditions as untreated sewage continues to pour into their homes, nearby rivers and oceans, the party said in a statement before the tour.
“This tour will not only highlight the magnitude of the problem, but detail how an ActionSA government can fix our broken sanitation infrastructure, restore South African’s dignity and clean up our environment and waterways,” the party stated.
The tour began in Cape Town with a helicopter oversight of reported sewage flows into the ocean, followed by visits to local communities struggling with sewage disasters in Cape Town, Makhanda, Buffalo City and Welkom.
In Makhanda, the first stop was the front of Mary Waters High School. Local resident Richard Alexander explained to the ActionSA team that the sewage problem had been going on for a long time. ”The honeysucker came two weeks back but now the sewage is back again”.
Trollip accused the departments of education and public works as well as the Makana Municipality of neglecting the problem of sewage spillages in Makhanda. According to Trollip and Beaumont, roads and sewage problems should be resolved in a matter of hours in a functional municipality. In Makhanda, the two leaders lamented, residents were living without dignity due to government failures.
The next stop for the ActionSA team was the Matyana River bridge, also flooded by raw sewage. ”This can be fixed if you take all the sewage and make sure that it goes into the sewage system so that the environment can be protected and the health of the people is not in danger,” Trollip pointed out.
He said Makhanda residents were at risk of drinking E. coli contaminated water because there are sewage spillages everywhere. ”What happens in Matyana River is a complete disgrace, and it can be fixed, it should be fixed, if you have a government that cares. But we have a government in this town that has been under administration a number of times”.
Trollip said people live in the area, work there and drive over the bridge every single day but those in authority do not care about their health and the environment. “That is why is time to change this municipality and get rid of the current incompetent municipality and every councillor under this municipality. The political administration of Makhanda and Makana has failed the residents of this town, which is why it is so important to vote for change,” said Trollip.
Beaumont also had strong views about the overflowing sewage. ”Having a municipality like Makana under administration for so many years is not serving the residents of this community. We don’t have a top quality administrator being appointed by the provincial government, with the expertise and the access to the budget required to turn around this broken and financially dysfunctional municipality,” said Beaumont.
He continued: ”There will always be a problem if you have a buddy-buddy relationship between a provincial government led by the ANC and a municipality led by the ANC. It’s all about internal harmony.”
The ActionSA leaders believe the sewage system problem can be fixed if a new system that has been built already was used. “Dealing with sewage is not difficult, it requires proper planning, proper implementation and qualified people to do it,” said Trollip.
The team also went to the Belmont Valley Waste Water Treatment Plant for a quick inspection and were met with resistance from the security officers on the site.
