Vandalism remains the biggest challenge

Vandalism seems to be the biggest challenge the Makhado and Vhembe municipalities face with regard to proper service delivery.

During a recent oversight visit conducted by the DA’s shadow minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Kevin Mileham (MP), and local DA councillor Brian du Plooy to the municipal waste treatment plant, they found the plant to be totally non-functional. “The DA is outraged at the negligence demonstrated ... in managing its water and sewerage infrastructure,” Du Plooy stated in a press release.

It was found that the town’s sewage flows into the plant, but none of the settling dams are operating. None of the aerators are working either, and the scoops are not turning. “The staff at the plant indicated that the facility manager had not been on site for several days, and no work was taking place,” Du Plooy said. He added that the situation is so bad that raw sewage is left to flow directly into the wetland area adjacent to the plant, which then drains into the Spies Dam and Sand River. “The Spies Dam and the Sand River are sources of water for local communities downstream for drinking, cleaning and watering animals,” Du Plooy said.

Du Plooy said that while good progress was being made in constructing a new sewerage treatment plant, it would only be operational in 2015. “In the interim, the existing plant is clearly inadequate to meet the needs of the town. Contributing to this issue is the municipality’s lack of a technical director. This critical post has been vacant for more than a year,” Du Plooy said. He said the DA would demand an immediate investigation by the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Green Scorpions. “Unless this matter is dealt with within 14 days, the DA will be forced to lay charges against the municipal manager in terms of the National Environmental Waste Management Act,” said Du Plooy.

The Vhembe District Municipality (VDM), as responsible authority for the waste treatment plant, was asked to comment on the situation at the plant. They put the blame for the situation at the plant solely of vandals. “Vandalism of the waste-water plant continues to affect its functionality. The waste-water plant has recently experienced a spate of vandalism, hence the current state of affairs,” said VDM spokesperson Mr Matodzi Ralushai.

Ralushai again acknowledged that the inflow of sewage exceeds the plant’s design capacity. “Hence Vhembe embarked on the construction of a new plant to augment the existing plant. The new plant should be operational before the end of 2014 [December],” Ralushai said.

At present, Ralushai said, civil and electrical works at the new plant are 88% completed. “Upgrading works at the plant show commitment that Vhembe wants to address sewer leakages and also considers the community health risks seriously, but we call upon members of the community to assist in fighting crime,” he said. He was referring to the continuous vandalism of infrastructure. 

About three weeks ago, AfriForum claimed a victory with regard to helping restore the water supply to the town of Makhado (Louis Trichardt), with the handing over of 10 refurbished municipal boreholes by contractors to the VDM. On Tuesday, however, it came to light that some of these boreholes had fallen prey to vandals and copper cable thieves once more, resulting in another forced shutdown for repairs. The town is also constantly being plagued by vandals who destroy and damage municipal traffic signs. This led to Makhado municipal spokesperson Mr Louis Bobodi's stating in July that they would start replacing steel traffic sign posts with wooden posts as thieves keep on stealing them to sell as scrap metal.

News - Date: 22 August 2014

Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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