Today, ActionSA’s long-awaited court action commenced, with our legal team taking the eThekwini Municipality, the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government and the Government of National Unity (GNU) to task for their collective failure to address the ongoing eThekwini sewage crisis.
In November 2022, ActionSA filed legal papers against the eThekwini Municipality, citing clear violations of residents’ constitutionally enshrined rights to a safe and clean environment, as well as their right to economic development.
By all accounts, the crisis has only worsened, with no discernible action taken by the very GNU parties now attempting to misappropriate the fight that ActionSA initiated on behalf of the residents of eThekwini. Most shockingly, these same parties, cited as respondents, are using taxpayer funds from the respective departments they lead to oppose our legal action, which is nothing short of an insult to the residents they have failed.
Importantly, the eThekwini Municipality’s indifference, despite its obligation to repair and upgrade the dilapidated sewer infrastructure at the heart of this crisis, amounts to unlawful contempt that has had devastating consequences for the municipality and constitutes a gross dereliction of duty.
Equally, governance in South Africa is inherently cooperative, requiring all spheres to work together on shared challenges. Yet in the case of the eThekwini sewage crisis, this duty has been abandoned. The lack of coordinated action shows a clear failure of leadership and a troubling indifference to a crisis that has crippled eThekwini’s tourism and violated residents’ constitutional rights.
While not a finger has been lifted to confront the eThekwini Municipality’s failure to address this crisis, ActionSA will ensure accountability for the collapse in service delivery and for those who failed to hold the municipality to account, so that a clear and implementable plan can be executed to reverse the devastating crisis unfolding in eThekwini.
ActionSA’s Court Action Commences as Government Fails to Tackle eThekwini Sewage Crisis
Today, ActionSA’s long-awaited court action commenced, with our legal team taking the eThekwini Municipality, the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government and the Government of National Unity (GNU) to task for their collective failure to address the ongoing eThekwini sewage crisis.
In November 2022, ActionSA filed legal papers against the eThekwini Municipality, citing clear violations of residents’ constitutionally enshrined rights to a safe and clean environment, as well as their right to economic development.
By all accounts, the crisis has only worsened, with no discernible action taken by the very GNU parties now attempting to misappropriate the fight that ActionSA initiated on behalf of the residents of eThekwini. Most shockingly, these same parties, cited as respondents, are using taxpayer funds from the respective departments they lead to oppose our legal action, which is nothing short of an insult to the residents they have failed.
Importantly, the eThekwini Municipality’s indifference, despite its obligation to repair and upgrade the dilapidated sewer infrastructure at the heart of this crisis, amounts to unlawful contempt that has had devastating consequences for the municipality and constitutes a gross dereliction of duty.
Equally, governance in South Africa is inherently cooperative, requiring all spheres to work together on shared challenges. Yet in the case of the eThekwini sewage crisis, this duty has been abandoned. The lack of coordinated action shows a clear failure of leadership and a troubling indifference to a crisis that has crippled eThekwini’s tourism and violated residents’ constitutional rights.
While not a finger has been lifted to confront the eThekwini Municipality’s failure to address this crisis, ActionSA will ensure accountability for the collapse in service delivery and for those who failed to hold the municipality to account, so that a clear and implementable plan can be executed to reverse the devastating crisis unfolding in eThekwini.