The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga welcomes the decision of Members in the Provincial Legislature to adopt the DA’s motion to urgently attend to faulty wastewater treatment plants in Chief Albert Luthuli Local Municipality (CALM).
According to DA Member of Provincial Legislature Mpumalanga Spokesperson on CoGTA James Masango, this comes after the municipality was failing to address the continuous water pollution in Carolina and Silobela which in turn affected the quality of the town’s drinking water.
“Over the years, the municipality has shown disregard for a court order and a South African Human Rights Commission directive which compelled them to maintain their deteriorating water infrastructure,”
“Notably, the Blue Drop Report for 2023 reiterated that the municipality’s water treatment system is in a critical state, as it scored a mere 19.1%.
This report further indicated that in the drinking water microbiological compliance category, the municipality scored only 37.4%- with all 8 water supply systems producing water that is deemed unacceptable for human consumption,” he said
Masango added that overall, there is growing frustration and a lack of confidence in the municipality’s ability to ensure clean drinking water for the residents of CALM.
Noting these challenges, the motion called on the provincial government to embark on the following:
To conduct constant water testing in this municipality so as to investigate the severity of the water pollution
To prioritize the budget to maintain the ineffective WWTPs in this municipality
And to ensure that residents of this municipality have access to clean drinking water
Following the adoption of this motion, we will monitor if any progress is made over the next six months.
CALM spokesperson Thapelo Phetla was not available for a comment.
