WELKOM: In April 2025 a High Court order found that the Matjhabeng Local Municipality and the Lejweleputswa District Municipality had failed to meet its constitutional and statutory obligations to provide adequate, healthy municipal sanitation at the St Helena Checkers in Brachen Street, St Helena.
The Matjhabeng Municipality was directed by court to cease, modify or control any act, activity or process causing the pollution occurring in the vicinity of Shoprite Checkers in St Helena. The municipality was also instructed to urgently eliminate any source of pollution and to remedy the effects thereof.
They were instructed to submit reports to Shoprite, but no substantive action has been undertaken or reports provided by Matjhabeng. This resulted in court orders against the acting municipal managers of both the Matjhabeng Local Municipality and Lejweleputswa District Municipality to appear in court.
Both Lauretta Williams-van Wyk (Matjhabeng) and Motlatsi Makhetha (Lejweleputswa) must appear in the High Court on 9 October.
This situation has been reported numerous times to the municipality by Cllr. Coreen Malherbe.
“The situation not only impacts negatively on the supermarket, customers and the local community, which includes primary school children, but the sewage is also eroding the road that parents and customers must use daily,” says Malherbe, ward 33 councillor.
“Another situation that was highlighted to the municipality was that learners of St Helena Primary School have to cross this continuous flooding of raw sewage, going to school.”
Malherbe says that in 2024 the municipality tried to open main sewage lines behind the shopping centre, but then blamed the shop owners in Tugela Circle that they dump old oil in the drains. The situation was left unresolved and the problem continued.
“A sewage project was awarded to a contractor in 2023. Three areas behind the Tugela Circle were identified and had to be unblocked and the sewage system upgraded. One area was attended to by the contractor and the other two were reverted to the municipality to finish. No further work was done, and the problem continues,” she says.
Malherbe says numerous questions have been sent to council begging for answers regarding this issue.
Questions have up to today not been answered and are just moved to the next council sitting to be addressed − or blatantly ignored, she says.
“The DA in Matjhabeng welcomes the joint application that was filed against the current acting municipal managers of Matjhabeng and Lejweleputswa in their personal capacities. This reflects the careless and incompetent attitude that defines Matjhabeng current leadership. The lack of stability has resulted in incompetence, poor service delivery and a lack of accountability.
“This court order will hopefully set an example for municipalities rendering poor services to residents and for not adhering to our justice system.
“We welcome the court order holding municipality officials responsible in their personal capacity, and we will continue to hold the municipality accountable for services paid for by the residents and services not rendered and ignored by the municipality.
“Together, we will continue to work tirelessly, turning neglect into pride and despair into opportunity.”
