The commission has requested that operations and maintenance of infrastructure be prioritised within three months, to enhance revenue collection, tackle vandalism of infrastructure, and that bucket toilets be eradicated, among others.

The report, with recommendations to provide better services to the province, was launched at the Bloem Spa and Conference Centre on Tuesday (19/11).

Several complaints regarding poor service delivery at local government level were sent to the commission in 2016. In March, the complaints were gathered and an inquiry was initiated.

“The inquiry … by the commission sought to broadly investigate the state of service delivery in the Free State and to make findings and recommendations to address the failures at a local government,” said SAHRC commissioner, Dr Henk Boshoff.

“Upon analysing the submissions we noted various themes, which are revenue challenges as the top contributor, prevalence of the bucket system, poor road infrastructure, and high levels of indebtedness to Eskom and water boards.”

The province also needs to address the high levels of vacancies, failures to deal with infrastructural maintenance, violations of constitutional and statutory obligations by allowing sewage spillages to contaminate water, challenges of revenue collection, and challenges of vandalism and theft, he said.

The report showed the Free State has the highest number of bucket toilets in the country. High levels of indebtedness to Eskom and water boards add to Vaal Central Water’s problems of nonpayment by municipalities, leading it to the brink of bankruptcy.

“We welcome the validation of the DA’s presentation to the SAHRC about the collapse of water and sanitation services. We hold that these are human rights violations,” said Free State DA leader Dr Roy Jankielsohn.

“Urgent action is needed to restore the constitutional right to safe, accessible water in the Free State, we call on all implicated government entities to end these human rights violations and urgently implement these recommendations.”

The report urges immediate, coordinated action by provincial and national governments to address service delivery failures. By implementing the recommendations, the SAHRC hopes to restore constitutional rights and improve living conditions across the province.

OFM News