27 November 2024
The ANC Study Group on Water and Sanitation is saddened and shocked by the death of a teenage boy, Pule Lithebe, (14 years) by drowning in a sewage-filled pan in the Meloding area of the Matjhabeng municipality, on the 24th November 2024.
The ANC Study Group thus expresses its deepest condolences to the Lithebe family on the loss of their dear child.
This is the third death by drowning of a teenager in the last three weeks (two such occurred in Ward 16, Thabong in a launch pit).
While this latest death did not occur at a construction site, it is equally unacceptable that the Matjhabeng Local Municipality does not cordon off areas where bodies of raw sewage have formed and some of the pans where these bodies of untreated sewer have formed, are of the depths that threaten the safety and lives of residents.
The Study Group further notes that another area that has a similar, potentially dangerous collection of bodies of untreated sewer that flow in the neighborhood is Nyakallong, outside Allanridge in Matjhabeng.
This demands urgent and speedy attention which must lead to the eradication of this unhealthy situation and the decanting of the bird pan outside Nyakallong that menaces the residents of Nyakallong.
When a death such as this latest one of Pule Lithebe occurs, everyone within the accountability ecosystem must spring into action to guarantee the safety of residents and protect life and limb of everyone, young and old.
The Study Group notes that consultants and contractors have yet to be appointed in Meloding and Nyakallong to tackle the dire sewer situation and thus urges the Ministry of Water and Sanitation to expedite Ministerial Intervention, as per intervention in other units of Matjhabeng, and demonstrate zero tolerance for incompetent service providers.
The ANC Study Group undertakes to work within the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation, with the relevant Ministry in collaboration with other relevant Parliamentary Portfolio Committees, as well as within communities across South Africa, to take up the fight for the well-being of citizens and announce strides that are being made in the process.
This includes a focus on the recent findings of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on the state of service delivery in the Free State municipalities, in particular, on water and sanitation.
Once again, working with the people, we will confront every challenge and do so with people in mind, front and centre.
Issued by the Whip of the ANC Study Group on Water and Sanitation, Cde Sello Dithebe
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Cde Hlengiwe Hadebe
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064 147 3276