Bloom escalates Boipatong sewage crisis after residents exposed for years

Deputy Water and Sanitation Minister Jack Bloom has intervened after a report on long-running raw-sewage exposure in Boipatong, Gauteng, was published, according to The Citizen.

What triggered the intervention

According to The Citizen, residents of Boipatong have been exposed to raw sewage for more than two years. The report focused on a home on Batloung Street belonging to 63-year-old Masetumo Marago, whose house has been affected by sewage for about two years and who lives with her daughter and elderly father.

According to The Citizen, a medical report linked Marago’s bronchitis to prolonged exposure to sewage odours.

Actions taken by officials and activists

According to The Citizen, Bloom contacted human rights activist Rev Modise Molefe after reading the report. Molefe said the matter has been escalated to Gauteng provincial structures.

Molefe told The Citizen that Bloom confirmed the Batloung Street crisis had been referred to the Gauteng department of water and sanitation head Justice Maluleke, who then escalated the matter to Emfuleni municipal manager April Ntuli for progress tracking, according to The Citizen.

“Our communities have grown weary of political prose; we are looking for immediate, measurable execution on the ground to halt these ‘inhuman’ sewage spillages,”

Cause and municipal response

According to The Citizen, the sewage problem was reported as caused by a blocked sewer tied to contractor work at a nearby school. The Citizen also reported that Emfuleni municipal manager April Ntuli had not replied to The Citizen’s questions at the time of publication.

Outstanding questions and caveats

According to The Citizen, the newspaper did not find an independent municipal repair timeline or a wider health assessment in the available sources.

Molefe said Repca and its coalition would monitor developments arising from engagement with Bloom, including meetings with Rand Water and the Vaal Anti-Pollution Forum, the planned special purpose vehicle for Emfuleni and the escalation of the Batloung Street crisis to provincial leadership, according to The Citizen. He added that he would keep Bloom’s office informed of the coalition’s formal petition to the United Nations human rights system and said,

“We expect [Bloom’s] office to deliver on its constitutional obligations without delay,”

as reported by The Citizen.

What happens next

According to The Citizen, Bloom has instructed his office to contact April Ntuli to intervene. The Citizen reported that discussions are expected about the wider collapse of water and sanitation services in Emfuleni, and that residents will judge the intervention by what happens on the ground.