“I AM extremely shocked that the Chris Hani District Municipality will go to such levels of intimidation when I am simply trying to assist the people of Cradock.”
These were the words of Retief Odendaal, Democratic Alliance’s MPL at the Bhisho Legislature, after he was locked in at the Cradock sewerage plant by a Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) employee for almost an hour last Friday.
“The Democratic Alliance will not allow blatant intimidation to derail our attempts to hold officials to account and ensure that the people of Cradock are not exposed to raw sewage in their drinking water,” said Odendaal after his ordeal was over.
He said that a senior official from the CHDM deliberately, and with malice, locked him inside the Cradock Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW), while he was conducting an official oversight and explained that this was done in the presence of police officers and security.
The official, who is known to Odendaal, then left the premises, taking the keys with him, resulting in Odendaal being detained against his will for close to an hour.
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