Our Burning Planet

Court raps government over ‘snail’s pace’ effort to end Vaal River sewage stink

Untreated sewage carpets the land near the Wilge River, which flows into the Vaal River and Vaal Dam. (Photo: Mafube Business Forum)

By Tony Carnie

1 Apr 2025

The High Court in Bloemfontein has given the Mafube (Frankfort) Local Municipality 60 days to explain what steps it will take to prevent further sewage leaks into the Wilge and Vaal Rivers.

“Across the province, our communities are walking through sewage daily, a glaring health hazard and a blatant violation of the constitutional principles that demand a safe and healthy environment for all. It is a crisis that speaks not only to service delivery failures but to a disregard for human dignity.” – Dr Namane Dickson Masemola, Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in a speech delivered on 3 December 2024 at the Free State Local Government Summit.

The High Court in Bloemfontein has declined to convict former Free State Premier Sisi Ntombela of contempt of court over repeated sewage spills in parts of the province, but has nevertheless ordered senior provincial and municipal officials to take “immediate emergency measures” to halt the flow of untreated sewage into some of the country’s most important rivers.

sisi mtombela Former Free State Premier Sisi Ntombela. (Photo: Gallo Images / Volksblad / Mlungisi Louw). (Photo: Gallo Images/Volksblad/Mlungisi Louw)

In an appeal judgment on 25 March, Judge JP Daffue echoed the sentiments of Deputy Minister Masemola in decrying the almost daily spills of municipal sewage in the Free State and also remarked that it would be a “sad day” if municipalities simply blamed financial turmoil for their failure to carry out their constitutional obligations to the people they were supposed to serve.

Judge Daffue and two fellow judges have now given senior government officials and the Mafube (Frankfort) Local Municipality 60 days to explain under oath exactly what steps they will take to prevent further sewage leaks into the Wilge and Vaal Rivers.

The court noted that the Mafube council was no stranger to Free State courts, describing it as a “perpetual perpetrator”.

As far back as June 2004, for example, Mafube had been ordered to repair sewerage pumps in Namahadi township. A similar court order was issued in 2008, while in 2014, the high court found Mafube in contempt of both previous orders.

In October 2015, another order was issued by the same court, pertaining to sewage spillages. Less than a year later, yet another order was granted, compelling Mafube to rectify the problems at the sewerage works.

wilge river sewage Untreated sewage carpets the land near the Wilge River, which flows into the Vaal River and Vaal Dam. (Photo: Mafube Business Forum)

In January 2017, the court granted the Mafube Business Forum the authority to make direct payments to Eskom to prevent electricity cut-offs, as the Mafube council owed Eskom millions of rands.

“Mafube is guilty of serious maladministration in that at some stage it did not pay the salaries of employees, but more importantly, failed to pay over the provident fund contributions deducted from employees’ salaries to the South African Municipal Workers’ Union Provident Fund,” the court said then.

In the latest case, the Mafube Business Forum, AfriForum and resident Johan Ungerer went to court in 2022 seeking to hold (former) Premier Sisi Ntombela guilty of contempt of court and a ruling that senior officials had failed to comply with two previous orders by high court Judges Opperman and Van Rhyn.

In May 2023, Judge Pitso Molitsoane noted that the premier had not personally been served with the court application and was not cited in a personal capacity, and could therefore not be held in contempt.

(Ntombela resigned as Premier in early 2023 and was succeeded by Premier Mxolisi Dukwana and subsequently by current Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae.)

On appeal, Judge Daffue and two fellow judges agreed, for similar reasons, that the premier could not be held in contempt.

However, they found that Mafube and several other government roleplayers had ignored their constitutional responsibilities, stating that “one would have thought that an emergency procurement process would have been undertaken immediately… The pollution of the Vaal and Wilge rivers could not have been shrugged off on the basis that Mafube and its Administrator should be allowed to continue at its ‘snail’s pace’.

“The constitutional gravity of this case cannot be ignored. The residents of Mafube, in particular, are entitled to basic rights, inter alia, such as an environment which is not harmful to their health… Mafube is a perpetual perpetrator.

‘Hopelessly failed’

“Their dilatoriness and unaccountability must be considered on the basis of their heightened duty to comply with court orders. They must respect the rule of law and the courts as guardians of the Constitution. They hopelessly failed in their duty.”

Noting previous court rulings that municipalities and other state organs could not be compelled to do more than available resources permitted, the three judges agreed that the financial difficulties had to be considered.

However, they said “it would be a sad day if organs of state would be allowed to use this as a general defence when they fail to carry out their constitutional obligations”.

Issuing a new order, Judge Daffue directed the premier and eight other provincial government officials to comply “forthwith” with previous court orders and also to provide the administrator of Mafube with logistical, political and administrative support to carry out his role in stabilising the council.

The officials have also been ordered to finalise and implement a financial recovery plan “without delay” to ensure an immediate end to sewage pollution of the Wilge and Vaal rivers, which flow into the Vaal Dam.

AfriForum spokesperson Jaco Grobbelaar welcomed the judgment, noting that the ruling made it clear that the municipality was not capable of delivering services.

“The municipality must (now) allow for private organisations and businesses to assist with service delivery,” he said.

Dr Igor Scheurkogel, the DA’s Mafube Municipality Constituency Head, hailed the judgment as a “landmark ruling” and “a crucial milestone in the fight for municipal accountability, environmental justice and the protection of water resources”.

In a statement on 31 March, he said “this ruling has binding implications, ordering local and provincial governments to restore sewerage infrastructure, halt pollution, and uphold accountability… This judgment sends an unmistakable message: When municipalities fail, the courts – and the people – will step in.” DM

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‘Hopelessly failed’