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Despite the Democratic Alliance (DA) pressing criminal charges against the Magareng Municipality for ongoing environmental pollution of the Vaal River system almost two months ago, the Warrenton Sewerage Plant remains non-operational.

This was confirmed during an oversight inspection to the plant by a DA delegation today.

What this in effect means is that a substantial amount of sewerage continues to be dumped daily into the non-functioning plant, which has a holding capacity of two million litres. Given that the waste is not being processed, this means that vast quantities of waste are seeping into the river aggravating the environmental crisis.

It is little wonder that Deputy President David Mabuza skipped Warrenton on his tour of ailing water and sewerage systems in the area last Friday. While he admitted that ANC municipalities are dysfunctional due to infighting halting service delivery, a stop at the Warrenton Sewerage Plant would have seen him admitting defeat, admitting that they have failed residents, businesses and farmers who are dependent on the Vaal river.

There can be no excuses for such a severe service delivery failure. Water sustains life, and by not caring for our water sources and sewerage plants, ANC governments are outrightly showing that they do not care for the people of the Northern Cape.

The only way to hold municipalities accountable, is to kick out corrupt governments. Surely, there can be no greater reason now to give the ANC-run Magareng government, which has not even so much as attended to the stagnating plant since at least October last year, the boot.

It is time to turn Warrenton’s sanitation crisis around and it is time to secure our water sources by registering to vote in the Local Government Elections and voting in a DA-government that can get things done.

Issued by DA