By Nkhensani Chauke
The ANC Study Group on Water and Sanitation has expressed deep shock and sadness over the tragic death of 14-year-old Pule Lithebe on Sunday.
Lithebe tragically drowned in a sewage-filled quarry in Meloding, Virginia, leaving the local community in shock.
The Matjhabeng Local Municipality employees were on Sunday dispatched to drain the sewage, where his body was later found stuck in the mud at a quarry located in an open area near the Meloding Graveyard.
The SAPS Diving Unit was also summoned to the scene, but it was a health risk because of the sewage in the quarry.
“While this latest death did not occur at a construction site, it is equally unacceptable that the Matjhabeng Local Municipality does not cordon off areas where the bodies of raw sewage have formed and some of the pans where these bodies of untreated sewer have formed, are of the depths that threaten the safety and lives of residents,” the ANC study group said.
The ANC study group has highlighted Nyakallong, outside Allanridge in Matjhabeng, Free State, as another location with a hazardous accumulation of untreated sewage flowing into the neighborhood.
“This demands urgent and speedy attention which must lead to the eradication of this unhealthy situation and the decanting of the bird pan outside Nyakallong that menaces the residents of Nyakallong,” the ANC study group said.
“When death such as this latest one of Pule Lithebe occurs, everyone within the accountability ecosystem must spring into action to guarantee the safety of residents and protect life and limb everyone, young or old.”
The study group acknowledged that consultants and contractors would be appointed in Meloding and Nyakallong to address the dire sewer situation.
However, it has encouraged the Ministry of Water and Sanitation accelerate ministerial intervention in the Meloding and Nyakallong areas, similar to their efforts in other parts of Matjhabeng, to address the severe sewer situation.
The study group added that the intervention should prioritize the eradication of incompetent service providers.
“The ANC Study Group undertakes to work within the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation, with the relevant Ministry in collaboration with other relevant Parliamentary Portfolio Committees, as well as within communities across South Africa, to take up the fight for the well-being of citizens and announce strides that are being made in the process,” the study group said.
Municipal spokesperson Tshediso Tladi told the SABC that the quarry was created by contractors who extracted sand from the area but failed to refill the excavation.
Over time, the site collected rain and sewage water, posing a huge risk to the Meloding community, especially children.
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