Failure to attend to sewage and drinking water spills by the Mangaung Metro Municipality (MMM) continues to cost the municipality millions of rands. The DA in the metro laments the ongoing failure by the authority to fix leakages and burst pipes as another factor crippling the municipality’s prospects of recovering from bankruptcy.
Dirk Kotze, DA caucus deputy chairperson in the metro, said reoccurring leaks in both clean water infrastructure and sewerage infrastructure remained unattended, in some cases for longer than ten months by now.
“Despite persistent follow-ups with the relevant department in Mangaung, this issue has not been addressed. In the previous financial year, the municipality lost R406 million due to unattended water leaks and burst pipes.
“The Mangaung Municipality is crumbling under the growing backlog of water leaks and sewage overflows due to a lack of teams attending to the crisis,” said Kotze.
According to Kotze, the current backlog of water leaks and burst pipes has increased to 1 100, with the sewage backlog reaching 814.
“These numbers are on the increase every day,” he said.
Kotze said the municipality’s effort of approving a tender for 227 contractors for the provision of professional engineering services has proved futile.
“Despite approval of these contractors, it is concerning that there still seems to be a lack of teams attending to the water leaks and sewage overflows. Urgent action needs to be taken to address this ongoing crisis and ensure that the approved contractors are effectively addressing the backlog,” he said.
According to Kotze, contractors were approved from July 2023 until 30 June 2025.
He said party councillors have requested an urgent meeting with Gregory Nthatisi, acting executive mayor, and all the relevant heads of the department to address the crisis of neglecting water and sewage infrastructure.
