North West Municipality Faces Legal Action Over Non-Compliance

Tswaing municipality in the North West spends money on court battles and consultants Abraham Moreo lives on a street flooded with raw sewage. The leak has been going on for so long in Letsopa in Ottosdal in the North West, that the sewage has carved out a riverbed. Now the provincial government is taking steps against the failing Tswaing Local Municipality, which has consistently failed to obey instructions. Moreo has lived in the township for 30 years. He believes his family, and many of the roughly 130,000 residents of Tswaing are bearing the brunt of an "uncaring government". Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines At night, "we can't sleep because the smell is too much," said Moreo. "It is also really bad for our health." When GroundUp visited earlier this month we saw dozens of residents, from toddlers to the very old, attempting to wade through shin-deep sewage covering yards, roads and pavements. There is no drinking water in Moreo's section, so daily life involves walking to distant sections of Letsopa with 5 litre buckets "looking for water". With an inconsistent power supply, dilapidated public facilities and roads, and irregular rubbish collection, Moreo believes that the municipality "is doing nothing, absolutely nothing" to improve the lives of his community. In 2023, a South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) investigation found that the constitutional rights of Tswaing residents were being violated by water and sanitation failures. Now the provincial government is taking steps against the municipality which has failed to implement its directives, said North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs Gaoage Molapisi. The province has been intervening in the municipality since 2022. Speaking to the media on 23 September, Molapisi said the provincial government referred several findings of maladministration to law enforcement authorities. A provincial representative in the municipality, Moatlhodi Mosala, would now "assume the responsibility of the council" and accounting officer, said Molapisi. Mosala had been instructed to intensify focus on implementing directives issued to the municipality after a scathing report ordered by the MEC. The report flagged alleged irregular payments and appointments, disputed council resolutions, concerns over approximately R47.7-million in legal costs, procurement irregularities and an attempted transaction involving municipal land. SAHRC North West manager Shirley Mlombo told GroundUp the municipality had not complied with its directives either and the commission was considering litigation. About 30 minutes north-west of Ottosdal, GroundUp met pensioner Dora Seleke. She and 17 others in her family share one shack in Agisanang near Sannieshof. Despite repeated promises of formalisation "when it is elections," Seleke is yet to see any change. According to data from the municipality in its draft 2024/25 annual report which is not yet online, her family is one of about 4,000 households that are further than 200 metres from a water supply point. Using her pension, she pays people around R30 a day to carry six 5-litre bottles of water to her home. When she can't afford this, she has to carry the water herself, making several trips a day. Her stand has no toilets, and Seleke has to walk far to surrounding areas to ask if she could use someone else's toilet. "We shouldn't be treated like this," said the great-grandmother. More than 7,000 households lack basic sanitation, a failure for which the SAHRC blamed both the municipality and the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality, which is responsible for bulk water supply, as well as the wastewater treatment plants and sewage pump stations servicing Ottosdal, Sannieshof, Delareyville, and Atamelang. According to 2022 StatsSA census data , just over 62% of households across the municipality had piped water on site, 31% received weekly refuse removal, 50% had flush toilets connected t