DA: Statement by Maritha Coetzee, Matlosana City Local Municipality Councillor, Matlosana not on top of sanitation meltdown (30/07/2014)

30th July 2014

DA: Statement by Maritha Coetzee, Matlosana City Local Municipality Councillor, Matlosana not on top of sanitation meltdown (30/07/2014)

Raw sewerage has been flowing through an open veld next to Alabama and Jouberton and underneath the N12 for months on end.
 
Apart from the unbearable smell residents have to endure, the Matlosana City Council does not recognize these conditions as a health risk.


It is a fact that raw sewage contains biological agents such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites that can cause serious illness and even death.  

 
Also, surface water gets contaminated and seepage into local groundwater.
 
It is one of the core functions of the Matlosana City Council to maintain sewer pipes and manholes. No resident should ever be exposed to such stench and health risks.
 
Upon visiting the area numerous people were observed crossing the area where the sewerage flows and said Council does nog consider them to be worthy of humanitarian conditions.
 
Unskilled officials, no maintenance continuing for years and the current financial dire straits of this Council are but a few of the reasons for this unacceptable situation.
 
The continued influx of people while infrastructure is not on standard also causes the problem to escalate.
 
The DA is severely concerned about the situation at Matlosana as a whole and continuously demands service delivery from Council through every possible channel and means.  
The situation however is of such a nature that backlogs in the payment of creditors are now slurping up money earmarked for service delivery.
 
The DA supports full administration of the Matlosana City Council in order to ensure a turn-around in service delivery.