Senekal stinks of ANC failed governance

23 August 2018

Our Constitution grants every citizen the right to live in a clean and safe environment.

However, the reality is that under the failed ANC government, the rot and degradation of the environment communities live in, especially in the Free State, can literally be smelled from miles away.

The entire sewerage system in Senekal, in the Setsoto Local Municipality is dysfunctional and in complete disrepair. All the sewerage pumps, save one, are in disrepair. At two of the pump stations there are no pumps to be found. One of the sewage holding dams is completely overgrown with grass as a result of the build-up of sediment.

The entire sewerage network appears to be under strain as a result of an increased demand and poor maintenance. All facilities in the network are unsecured allowing free access of people and cattle which exposes them to disease. This also contributes to regular vandalism of facilities. Honeysuckers routinely dump raw sewage in the open veld.

The main sewerage plant, which was completed in 2012 is non-operational. Apparently the plant stopped functioning in 2015, only three years after its completion. Several aerators are dumped outside of holding dams and tanks, rusting away under our beautiful African sun.

The community of Senekal is awash with raw sewage which flows into the Sand River and ultimately flows into the Allemanskraal Dam. This results in the degradation of the environment and poses a serious health risk to people and animals alike that make use of this fresh water resource.

Senekal stinks. Literally.

Senekal is one of the towns in the Free State that has been crippled by poor service delivery and the collapse of the sewerage infrastructure is a perfect example of the ANC’s failures in government.

This entire stinky situation the failed ANC government has created in Senekal is in contravention of the Water Services Act, the National Water Act, the National Environmental Management Act and the National Environment Management Waste Act.

The DA has already requested the Office of the Public Protector to investigate the complicity of the ANC-led government of the Setsoto Local Municipality in the violation of these pieces of legislation and the Constitution.

Issued by David van Vuuren, DA Chief Whip in the Free State Provincial Legislature, 23 August 2018