The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in the North West has threatened to take legal steps to force municipalities to render services, if the provincial government fails to ensure its recommendations are implemented.
The Commission’s remarks come on the back of its final investigation report against the Ngaka Modiri Molema and the Tswaing local municipalities for failing to render services at Agisanang, Jachtkraal farm, Delareyville and Letsopa areas.
The SAHRC North West provincial manager, Shirley Mlombo said they launched an investigation after complaints were lodged on 06 September, 08 September and 11 October 2021 regarding the sewer spillages and lack of basic municipal services including water, sanitation and electricity at Agisanang, Jachtkraal Farm, Delareyville and Letsopa.
“Following an investigation of these complaints, the Commission found that the rights of the residents of Agisanang, Jachtkraal Farm, Delareyville and Letsopa were violated by the Local and District Municipalities. The specific rights violated included the residents’ right of access to water and sanitation as well as their right to dignity.
“Our plan for this year is to follow up on all the recommendations. And the first point of call is to first engage with the municipalities. Other efforts to ensure compliance include engaging with other stakeholders like the office of the Premier.
“We have also established a relationship with the provincial legislature that will also explore getting all parties to comply. But if all that fails, then the last resort will be to approach the court of law,” Mlombo said.
The Commission made several directives that the Local and District Municipalities must comply with. The directives made include the following:
- The Local and District Municipalities must install a sufficient number of water user connections to supply a minimum quantity of potable water of 25 litres per person per day or 6 kilolitres per household per month to the residents of the Sannieshof, Jachtkraal Farm, Delareyville and Letsopa at a minimum flow rate of not less than 10 litres per minute; within 200 metres of each of the residents’ households; and with effectiveness such that the residents are not without a water supply for more than seven full days in any year.
- The Local and District Municipalities must provide the residents of Sannieshof, Jachtkraal Farm, Delareyville and Letsopa with toilets which are safe, reliable, environmentally sound, and easy to keep clean, provides privacy and protection against weather, well ventilated, keeps smells to the minimum and prevents the entry and exit of flies and other disease-carrying pests.
- The Local and District Municipalities, in consultation with the Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Department of Water and Sanitation, must within one month of the report conduct a comprehensive assessment of the water and sanitation infrastructure in Sannieshof, Jachtkraal Farm, Delareyville and Letsopa. The comprehensive assessment must reflect the cost implications of rectifying the challenges identified in the assessment.
- The Local and District Municipalities must engage actively and meaningfully with the residents of Sannieshof, Jachtkraal Farm, Delareyville and Letsopa on its short, medium and long-term measures to address the challenges relating to the provision of water, basic sanitation, electricity and housing to the residents.
- The Local and District Municipalities, must within two months of the completion of the assessment submit a report to the Commission, under oath, detailing the steps that they will take in the short, medium and long term to address the inadequacies of the waste management system, and the sewer network or infrastructure servicing the affected areas; with specific detail in respect of the planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation, and oversight and accountability measures to be taken.
The DA’s Member of Parliament, Carin Visser who complained on behalf of the residents said the commission should fulfill its mandate and ensure that the recommendations are implemented.
“The people in these areas really need to receive better services. People need to receive services that they pay for. People of Jachtkraal have been staying there since 1997 when there was a failed land claim.
“The original owner sold the land, now people are still staying there without receiving any services. No water, no sanitation, nothing. There are absolutely no developments. Those people are living in the worst conditions ever.
“We need action and we need the SAHRC to comply with their mandate, which is long overdue. It is another report, what will happen next? It will just be noted and then disappear like the others,” said Visser.
This is the second negative finding against the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality by the SAHRC in a short space of five months. The commission last year found that the district and the Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality violated the rights of the residents of Extension 5 in Lehurutshe by failing to provide them with water and sanitation.
Both the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality and the Tswaing local municipality are yet to respond to the commission’s findings.
