DA spokesperson, Dr Igor Scheurkogel, tells OFM News that the entire sewage system and infrastructure in Odendaalsrus are rapidly collapsing. Scheurkogel says that the time has come for the municipality to take accountability.

OFM News submitted questions to the municipal spokesperson and is awaiting a response from the municipality.

"People in Odendaalsrus are daily faced by sewage spilling into their yard and they cannot even access their yards. This is a huge offence against people's human rights and their rights to quality basic services so that they do not have to live in these inhumane circumstances."

Scheurkogel said: “We do hope that the South African Police Service will take this investigation further to ensure the residents and people of Odendaalsrus and the Matjhabeng Municipality get the services they need and do not have to live with sewage every day.”

He adds that it is heart-breaking that there are residents who wake with sewage flowing in their streets and yards.

Their inability to execute simple tasks, such as flushing their toilets, is inhumane, says Scheurkogel. The horrific evidence suggests that the maintenance of the sewage infrastructure in Matjhabeng is overdue by nearly a decade, says Scheurkogel. “The situation is the same in some houses in ward 14 of Thabong.”

“This plan of action of opening criminal charges against those accountable will not only be in Odendaalsrus, it will also be expanded to other towns in Matjhabeng to ensure the wellbeing of our residents. The time has come for the municipality to be held accountable for not providing basic services to the community,” asserts Scheurkogel.

OFM News/Lee Simmons