The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Maruleng Municipality calls on both the Maruleng Local and Mopani District Municipalities to engage openly with the community and businesses of Hoedspruit on the looming collapse of bulk water and sewage services and to commit to concrete steps to avert disaster.
Historically, Hoedspruit has depended on the Hoedspruit Air Force Base for both bulk water and sewage services. These facilities were never designed for large-scale civilian use and are now running at 150% of capacity, with raw sewage already spilling onto neighbouring farms. Combined with years of inaction and bungling by both municipalities, this poses an imminent threat to the town’s viability and future development.
Despite residents paying for water and sewage services, the municipality itself does not pay the Defence Force for the bulk supply. Meanwhile, the ANC-run local and district municipalities – the designated Water Services Provider and Authority – have consistently failed to upgrade infrastructure.
A R28 million project by Mopani District Municipality to provide bulk water was never completed due to incompetence, while another newly constructed pipeline remains non-functional.
The DA further warns developers that municipal approvals often exclude new projects from connecting to existing bulk infrastructure.
The DA therefore demands that both Mopani District and Maruleng Local Municipalities take decisive action to fulfil their obligations to provide appropriate and sustainable bulk and reticulation services – and that they must account to the community. Failure to act will not only jeopardise future development but could trigger the collapse of these fragile systems – an entirely avoidable calamity.