DA Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate Ghaleb Cachalia visited Labore in Brakpan on Friday, last week, after seeing reports and hearing complaints about a massive oil spill at a liquidated business in the area.
It was reported in the Herald’s April 22 edition, ‘Oily mess sparks concern’ how the abandoned property, where crude oil and oilseed cake was once manufactured, is causing severe damage to the environment.
Read the story here: Oily mess sparks concern
The property, which is situated along Joule Street, is engulfed in oil and the sludge has also flooded the surrounding area, affecting neighbouring businesses.
“Not only is this an unpleasant smell and eyesore, it is a major environmental health issue,” said Cachalia, who is the son of activists Amina and Yusuf Cachalia.
“Section 24 of the Constitution of South Africa protects our rights to a clean and safe environment as well as the protection of the environment for current and future generations.
“The oil is seeping into the water table and local drain systems, polluting multiple water systems while we are in the middle of a drought.
“It is also a major fire hazard in the area at a time when we need to be protecting industrial areas for the jobs they create.”
According to Cachalia, the Ekurhuleni Metro has many tools at its disposal to resolve this.
“Mayor Mondli Gungubele gave his State of the City Address at a site 5km from the area, but is unresponsive to actually doing his job,” said Cachalia.
“He should have visited this site immediately and tasked officials to resolve this problem.”
Cachalia explained that if he were mayor, he would immediately direct the municipality to clean the site and bill the property owner due to the seriousness of the situation.
“There are other tools available that I would take, including legal steps, to recover the costs of a clean-up so that the ordinary citizens don’t bear the costs,” he said.
DA Clr Jackie Reilly, MPL Ashor Sarupen and MP Gordon Mackay will be demanding action on Cachalia’s behalf through official channels in council, the Gauteng Legislature and National Parliament.
Another issue recently reported on by the Herald, the demolition of the new Brakpan Library, is also receiving attention from the DA.
DA public representatives visited the building site at the Brakpan Customer Care Centre on Monday.
The Herald reported on the issue in the edition of May 6, ‘New library lies in ruins’.
Read the story here:Â Poor workmanship blamed for demolition of new library
In a press release issued to the media, it was stated that the DA would leave no stone unturned to uncover the truth behind the wasted millions of Rands spent on the now-demolished library.
“Events over the past year point to gross mismanagement and wasteful expenditure, for which there must be accountability,” the statement reads.
“Further, the DA is crucially concerned about the authorisations given in recent weeks and the lack of formal procedures being followed, in that the oversight committee has yet to see the legal tender originally awarded, nor the new one.
“The vital question is: who is making decisions on behalf of council and on what basis?
“The party’s representatives on the Sports, Heritage, Recreation, Arts and Culture Oversight Committee (SHRAC) said no item had been served to discuss the problem when, in April last year, building came to a halt.
“Nor was a proper item presented when the decision was made to demolish the building, although the committee was informally briefed verbally by the official responsible for projects in Ekurhuleni on the current status of the library during April.
“It was indicated to the committee that the current contractor was removed from the site, and that a new contractor has been appointed.
“The reasons given for replacing the contractor was that several deadlines have not been met by the contractor and that the Ekurhuleni Metro was not satisfied with the workmanship from this contractor.
“The progress report also indicated that the new contractor appointed had to restart the building process and that this would affect the opening schedule of the library.”
The DA will be asking probing questions about this, including:
• Why was the contractor allowed to continue with a project for so long, missing several deadlines, without being challenged by the metro’s engineers?
• Which officials failed to ring the alarm bells about the unsatisfactory workmanship?
• What action has been taken against them?
• Precisely how much money was paid over to the contractor whose work has been levelled to the ground?
• What action has been taken to recover lost monies?
• What will the costs of replacing the contractor be?
“If the DA receives less than satisfactory answers to any of its questions, it will not hesitate to escalate this matter to other organs of state, including Parliament, the Special Investigations Unit and the office of the Public Protector,” the statement concludes.
Also read: Library’s demolition raises questions
Library building has been destroyed
