Raw sewage continues to flow down a street next to the St Helena Primary School in Welkom, despite two court orders and repeated promises from Matjhabeng municipal officials to address the crisis.
The sewage stream runs past the school gate, creating health risks for pupils and preventing access to the Checkers Shopping Centre in St Helena from the Unicor Road side.
The road is covered with bushes and branches, whilst potholes contiue posing a threat to drivers and their vehicles.
School-going children are forced to walk past streams of sewage running down the street next to their school gate, accompanied by strong odours and the possibility of infectious diseases.
In April 2025, the High Court found that the Matjhabeng Municipality and Lejweleputswa District Municipality had failed to meet constitutional and statutory obligations to provide adequate sanitation at the St Helena Checkers site.
In November 2025, the acting municipal manager of Matjhabeng and the municipal manager from Lejweleputswa appeared in court regarding the ongoing situation.
Despite the two court orders, the municipality has taken no action and shown no accountability.
At a mayoral imbizo held in ward 33 in April this year, the municipality agreed that urgent intervention was needed. The director of infrastructure promised that work would begin in April 2026, but no perceivable action has been taken since.
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) stated in a written reply dated 12 March 2025, that no progress had been made on the implementation of representations submitted by the Matjhabeng Local Municipality. This was in response to a notice of intention to issue a directive in terms of Section 19(3) of the National Water Act.
Coreen Malherbe, ward 33 councillor, reported the matter to provincial authorities. She requested an urgent intervention and site visit by provincial and government institutions.
The DA in Matjhabeng said that it would continue to hold the municipality accountable to comply with the court orders. In addition to that, the party has submitted a motion and formal questions for the next council meeting to compel the municipality and executive mayor to account for the sewage crisis in St Helena and provide urgent intervention.
The matter has been escalated to the DWS for immediate attention.
The sewage spill is exposing school pupils, residents and motorists to health and safety risks, whilst also damaging infrastructure. This affects local businesses and lowers the community’s quality of life.
The crisis, driven by ageing infrastructure, poor maintenance and failing management, poses health risks and affects residents and businesses that use the shopping centre.
The DA said a third court order, including personal liability for responsible municipal officials, may be required to force immediate corrective action.
You must be logged in to post a comment.