ActionSA pointed out on Monday that charges against municipalities have been laid before and the few that make it to prosecution have resulted in those charges being pleaded down to considerable fines. 

Team FixSA Member for Infrastructure Michael Beaumont was referring to the Department of Water and Sanitation opening 36 criminal cases against 26 municipalities across the country for sewage spills that contravene environmental legislation. He said while the charges were welcomed, it “does not go nearly far enough”.

Beaumont said the laying of these charges amounted to little more than “national government covering its considerable rear end”.

The municipalities in question are in the Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga.

“Limpopo and the North West represent some of the worst offenders for long-term sewage infrastructure failures that have caused the contamination of rivers and groundwater systems,” he noted.

He highlighted that the “absence of municipalities” in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal was difficult to comprehend.

“So, one tier of government fines another tier of government and the residents of these sewage-flooded communities forego municipal budget allocations that could address these issues,” he said.

He explained that the fight against failing municipalities cannot be fought with kid gloves.

“Where municipalities fail to adhere to sewage infrastructure turnaround plans, they must be placed under administration and competent administrators must be installed to ensure these plans are implemented,” he stated.

ActionSA said it would place at the core of its agenda in provincial governments after the May elections, the non-negotiable requirement that failing municipalities be placed under the tough kind of administration that gets the job done for the long-suffering residents of these municipalities.