by Fawzia Rhoda, MPL – DA Constituency Head of Bo-Karoo ![]() Date: 12 June 2020Release: Immediate Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbite in English from Fawzia Rhoda, MPL. The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape will report sanitation issues previously ignored by the Umsobomvu Local Municipality’s technical committee to the South African Human Rights Commission. At the same time, we will ask the Northern Cape Department of Co-operative Governance to intervene and to assist the municipality in alleviating the everyday struggles experienced by residents in Noupoort.For more than a year now, blockages in the sewerage system have become an ordinary sight. The sanitation blockages create serious risks for the health of residents, which is never acceptable and should be avoided especially during this current public health crisis.The Umsobomvu Local Municipality is not immune from the spread of the coronavirus. In fact, statistics released on the 11th of June shows that the municipal incidence rate now accounts for 64% of all cases detected in the Pixkley ka Seme district. And although the municipality does not cover the most densely populated areas of the province, the municipal incidence rate also accounts for just over 25% of all cases reported in the Northern Cape.It is well-established that strict adherence to adequate hygiene and sanitation standards are one of the strongest lines of defence to the coronavirus. And while it is known that the virus can also spread through exposure to human excrement, learners returning to class at the Eurekaville School in Noupoort must cross streams of sewage on their way to school. Elsewhere in the municipality, sewage runs into arable farming land and pollutes the drinking water of livestock.Repeated requests to the municipal manager to solve the problem had fallen on deaf ears. The mayor and the two ward councillors of the ANC who reside in Noupoort also seem to be blind to the risks they see around them every day.In this public health crisis, a responsible government must take all the precautions that it can to protect the health of its residents. The DA will not allow the ANC-led government to continue forsaking the residents of Noupoort. Media Enquiries Fawzia Rhoda, MPLDA Constituency Head of Bo-Karoo082 408 8070 Tharina WhittakerResearcher071 251 5558 |
