The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in the North West has warned that it’ll not hesitate to take legal steps against municipalities that continue to disregard its recommendations.This emerged at the launch of the commission’s Investigative Report into the State of Municipal Service Delivery in the province.
The report emanates from a comprehensive investigation conducted by its North West Provincial Office following a series of complaints regarding service delivery challenges across several municipalities in the province. Speaking on YOU FM Newshour, SAHRC’s Provincial Manager Shirley Mlombo said that the report made several findings against the North West Provincial Government and 14 municipalities in the province. In addition, she said that the report highlights deep-rooted governance and capacity challenges besetting municipalities in the province resulting in continued human rights violations by municipalities.
“The report is a call to action on the part of municipalities to act with vigor and urgency in implementing the directives made by the SAHRC. It also directs the North West Provincial Government to heighten its monitoring and intervention role in ensuring that municipalities in the province deliver on their constitutional and statutory obligations,” said Mlombo.
According to the commission, the report has exposed systemic failures in the provision of basic services, including water, sanitation, waste management, and road maintenance and their impact on residents’ constitutional rights.
“It has also revealed widespread non-compliance with constitutional and legislative obligations by municipalities in the province, failing to live up to their constitutional and legislative obligations. Consequently, many municipalities are violating several human rights through failing to ensure the regular supply of clean water, provide sanitation services, address sewage spillages, regularly collect solid waste, supply electricity to residents, address illegal dumping, and maintain roads and storm water systems,” explained the Provincial Manager.
Furthermore, the commission said that it will employ a multifaceted approach to ensure the implementation of its recommendations. “We have issued stern directives to all affected municipalities that we expect that they must be fully implemented without fail. They must deploy operational teams to resolve sewage spillages within 24 hours of reporting, submit 30-day progress reports on remedial actions taken, develop and implement costed, time-bound action plans within 90 days to permanently address systemic service delivery challenges, and remediate environmental damage caused by sewage, waste, and illegal dumping,” the report recommended.
The commission has shared the report with the provincial government and will during the week meet the Premier and his Executive Council, House of Traditional and Khoisan leaders and other stakeholders in the province, to take them through it.
