‘It is disgusting’

The problem was highlighted after the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) political head in the Greater Letaba Municipality (GLM) and member of the provincial legislature, Jacques Smalle, visited Mokgoba on April 19. “It was disgusting to see. After witnessing the situation at Mokgoba, I laid charges against the acting municipal manager, Matome Lekhotha for his continued failure to fix the sewage leaks at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). They will investigate and will give us a report within three weeks,” he said.

Smalle said he provided the SAHRC with a list of 50 houses that are badly affected by the sewage. “Those families live with the constant smell of sewage; it’s flowing down the streets where children play.” The charges laid are for contravening Section 107 of the National Environmental Management Act and Section 24 of the Constitution for the municipality’s failure to protect the environment and prevent pollution and ecological degradation. “We found sewage pipes that are either blocked or leaking and drains overflowing. Raw sewage runs through residential areas where chickens feed.

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“We trust that the SAHRC will prudently investigate and that their recommendations will restore the dignity of the residents of Mokgoba, who deserve to live in a clean and healthy environment,” he said. During an IDP meeting attended by the mayor of GLM, Dagma Mamanyoha, residents of Mokgobo also raised the sewage problem. “I eat watching running sewage,” a resident told the meeting. Herald contacted GLM spokesperson, Lovers Maenetja who referred the Herald to the Mopani District Municipality (MDM) spokesperson, Odas Ngobeni.

“The issue of Mokgoba is a major concern and receiving our maximum attention. The local municipality has been doing maintenance work on the sewer system, but we have been made aware that the problem is beyond routine maintenance. We did send a honey sucker to assist, but it was unable to access the septic tank,” he said. Ngobeni said the exponential population growth in Mokgoba has overtaken their planning. We are working on a plan to build a new system that will need funding. We do not have immediate funding, but it is a top priority, and we are looking at redirecting some funds to ensure that we do close on this matter and restore the dignity of our people in Mokgoba,” he said.

Sewage near the Tzaneen Dam-Liesl Pohl
In the Greater Tzaneen municipal area, raw sewage appears to be flowing dangerously close to the Tzaneen Dam as well. It is allegedly due to a faulty extraction pump at Macadamia 2’s sewage holding unit. A resident of Macadamia, Tony Long, brought attention to the issue on Monday saying that municipal staff pumped the sewage out onto the ground. “There are at least 50 000 liters of effluent, and this is running straight towards the dam! Is this legal?” asked Long. Long added that the sewage is flowing 15 meters from the borehole from where they take drinking water.

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He inquired as to the contingency plan, to prevent this from happening in the future. The DA’s René Pohl, exco member, and ward councillor at the Greater Tzaneen Municipality (GTM) said that she will hand in questions to the GTM and will seek answers in writing as to what measures the GTM has in place to ensure that no sewage flows into the dam for various reasons. Vutivi Makhubele, media liaison and communications officer at the GTM said the municipality is aware of the situation. “The pump station has flooded due to load shedding resulting in the sewage leak. “Our team has already started pumping the sewage out in order to get the problem resolved,” she told the Herald on Tuesday