The Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng will write to the MEC for Environmental Affairs, Shyla Peters, seeking urgent intervention to fix Roodepoort’s broken sewage pipe which puts residents’ health and the environment at risk.
During a recent oversight inspection, the DA discovered that a sewage pipe, previously damaged during a storm in 2022, had broken once again, reigniting the environmental emergency.
Thousands of litres in raw sewage are discharged hourly into the local water networks. The prolonged contamination presents devastating implications for water systems, soil quality, and the surrounding ecological habitats.
See photos here, here and here.
Despite the ward councillor in the area, Cllr Jacques Hoon, repeatedly escalating the issue to Johannesburg Water, it has not been fixed. The lack of urgent intervention demonstrates a critical failure in municipal infrastructure management.
During his State of the Province Address (SOPA), Premier Panyaza Lesufi indicated that the Green Scorpions have made great strides in enforcing environmental laws. Yet these laws are now being flouted because the province and municipalities are failing to fix broken sewage pipes.
A DA Gauteng-led provincial government will conduct an immediate, comprehensive review of the sewage infrastructure across the province and engage with the municipalities to ensure that its sewage repairs are completed within the standard timelines.