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“THESE actions can only be seen as a deliberate attempt to intimidate me and prevent me fulfilling my role as a member of the provincial legislature and holding these officials to account,” Odendaal said.
It follows after an initial oversight inspection at the WWTW last year revealed that the plant had come to a complete standstill and raw effluent was pouring into the Great Fish River.
The discharge of raw sewage into a natural water resource is illegal in terms of the Constitution, the National Environmental Management Act No. 107 of 1998 and the National Water Act No. 36 of 1998.
Despite several attempts by Odendaal to get the district municipality to take action, nothing was done and he was forced to lay criminal charges against CHDM and the Municipal Manager, Dr Bhekisisa Mthembu.
Odendaal said that the municipality’s inaction has led to the SA Human Rights Commission confirming that they would investigate, as the raw effluent is contamina-ting drinking water.
He continued that Friday’s oversight had shown that the situation remains the same. The plant is still not operational and there is still raw sewage flowing into the Great Fish River.
When asked for comment a spokesperson of the CHDM municipality said yesterday that they would not be able to comment on the matter before Komani-Karoo Express goes to print, but will do so as soon as possible.
