Emfuleni washing away our human rights

The rot within the Emfuleni local municipality has resulted in raw sewage flowing into the Vaal dam. This has serious health risks and directly infringes on the rights of residents exposed to the polluted water.

“The municipality, CoGTA, and the Minister of Water and Sanitation are all responsible for the collapse of the water systems that were engineered to provide citizens with clean drinkable water,” said OUTA’s executive director, Makhosi Khoza.

In 2017 the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) alerted the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to the threat that exists should municipalities fail to treat sewage adequetely. Read OUTA’s submission here. 

The SAHRC referred OUTA’s complaint to the Public Protector's office who are toying with the idea of investigating this matter jointly with the Human Rights Commission.

While it is encouraging to hear that the SAHRC visited the Vaal dam this week, we urge them to act more decisively on this matter as the health of residents depends on clean drinking water.

OUTA continues to put pressure on the Public Protector and the Human Rights Commission to act swiftly in the interest of residents.

In addition, the Department of Water and Sanitation has failed to make public the water quality reports for the past 3 years leaving citizens uncertain of the quality of the water they are drinking.

OUTA has since conducted its own water quality tests at nine major water sources which provide the bulk of Gauteng's water supply to give residents a clear indication of the quality of water they are drinking. Click here for more information and to support OUTA’s water testing project.