The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) reported a devastating state of affairs for North West municipalities, with poor service delivery tantamount to human rights abuses.
In the select committee on co-operative governance and public administration in parliament, commissioner Dr Henk Boshoff painted a picture of the grim reality plaguing residents of the province.
Boshoff told the committee on Tuesday that the commission had been inundated with service delivery complaints.
“The complaints spanned a wide range of critical issues such as access to water challenges, electricity challenges, housing challenges, sanitation challenges and sewage spillages, refuse collection challenges and dilapidated roads.”
The commissioner told the select committee communities had been living in dams of sewage, with areas in municipalities such as Matlosana, JB Marks, Kgetlengrivier, Ngaka Modiri and Rustenburg being frequently exposed to raw sewage overflowing into streets, rivers and even private yards.
“This is a violation of the right of residents to an environment that is not harmful to health or well-being as enshrined in section 24 of the constitution. A further violation of the National Environmental Management Act, which obliges every organ of state to prevent pollution and ecological degradation and remedy it where it has occurred.”
He called this a failure by the municipalities to promote a safe and healthy environment, due to neglect of their duties as an object of local government as listed in section 152(1)(d) of the constitution.
On the water challenges, Boshoff told the committee how residents had been suffering due to their failure to supply households with clean and sufficient water.
High water losses in many and poor quality water in some municipalities in the North West was highlighted as a crisis.
“There are high rates of water interruptions, for example Maquassi Hills stands at 90.6%, Kgetlengrivier at 88.6%, Moses Kotane at 73.1%, Moretele at 72.1%, Rustenburg at 71.6%, Dr Ruth at 68% and Ngaka Modiri at 67.7%.”
The province fared poorly on the refuse collection front, with the commissioner detailing residents’ experiences with living with litter.
He outed several municipalities such as Mahikeng, JB Marks, Kgetlengrivier, Maquassi Hills and Kagisano Molopo as failing to address the scourge of illegal dumping.
This while Kagisano Molopo at 21.9%, Kgetlengrivier at 21.9%, Moretele at 33.9% and Mahikeng at 34.6% suffered low rates of refuse removal.
“Violation of not only residents’ rights in terms of section 24 of the constitution and municipalities’ obligations in terms of the Waste Act, but it also violates residents’ right to human dignity,” he said.
In the investigative report presented to the committee, Boshoff detailed complaints about power failures, describing the situation as “blacked out and living in the dark”.
“The failure by some municipalities to provide electricity, violates residents’ rights of access to adequate housing and basic services. It also undermines residents’ right to human dignity.”
On sanitation, the human rights commissioner highlighted a lack of toilets, with residents in municipalities such as Rustenburg, Dr RSM, Maquassi Hills, Moretele and Moses Kotane, unable to live a life of dignity due to a lack of basic sanitation.
He added that this shows municipalities violate residents’ rights to dignity and basic sanitation as provided for in the Water Services Act.
The state of the roads in the province was also brought into question, with the commissioner telling the committee that some residents were isolated and cut off.
“The lack of reliable roads in municipalities such as such as JB Marks, Ditsobotla, Moretele, Moses Kotane and Rustenburg, violates residents’ right to freedom of movement in section 21 of the constitution.
“Residents and communities of these municipalities struggle with access to schools, clinics and emergency services due to poor roads infrastructure.”
He spoke about children in these areas being forced to walk through flooded streets and navigate unsafe, deteriorated roads, which infringed their right to the security of people under section 12 of the constitution.
With all the glaring challenges faced by these municipalities, the human rights commission called out the provincial government for being missing in action, while having the mandate to intervene.
“The systemic failure by the municipalities in the North West is also a failure on the part of the provincial government of North West.
“Sections 139 and 154 of the constitution, mandate the provincial government with the duty to support, strengthen, monitor and intervene where municipalities fail to fulfil their constitutional obligations.”
Boshoff told the committee that the sheer volume of unresolved complaints, confirmed by site inspections and corroborated by oversight reports, shows that the province’s support and intervention have been insufficient or ineffective, perpetuating systemic non-compliance at the local level.
The provincial government was criticised for the collapse of municipalities under its watch, despite having the powers to intervene.
The commissioner told the select committee that the human rights commission has directed the provincial government to review all current interventions at the cited municipalities.
“They are required to support municipalities with technical expertise and project management, monitor compliance with these remedial plans, facilitate emergency funding where local budgets are inadequate, but rights violations are severe.”
In addition, the province was ordered to address the security of service delivery infrastructure to curb vandalism and theft and ensure that people and entities responsible for the destruction of critical infrastructure are held to account.
“North West government needs to address continuing power cuts in some municipalities, which disrupt the provision of water and sanitation services.”
The SAHRC closed its presentation by revealing that it is awaiting a consolidated action plan to address the commission’s directives as well as development.
TimesLIVE
Sisanda Mbolekwa
www.timeslive.co.za
