Municipal Manager still under investigation

Update

GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - The case against the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality's Municipal Manager, Dr Eddie Rankwana, is still under investigation by Graaff-Reinet detectives.

DA Member of Parliament, Samantha Graham Maré, filed a police case of unlawful and intentional water pollution against Rankwana on 5 February.

Police spokesperson, Captain Lariane Jonker, confirmed on 16 March that the investigation is still ongoing.

According to Graham Maré, her decision to charge Rankwana, follows the municipality's continued intentional and wilful contamination and pollution of the Sundays River. Her charge is based on Section 151 (1) of the National Water Act 36 of 1998.

"The pollution of the Sundays River has been ongoing over the past five years, with the municipality seemingly unable, or unwilling, to fix the pump stations that will stop the flow of raw sewage into the river," Graham Maré said.

The DA Eastern Cape Shadow MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs, and Tourism, Yusuf Cassim, accompanied Graham Maré when registering the complaint. She wrote in her affidavit that the DA's first complaint on the sewerage pump overflowing at Tronkdrift, was in January 2018.

The overwhelming stench of sewage at Cypress Gove is also a problem, according to Graham Maré. She is worried about the fact that hospitality businesses in the area can't even keep the smell out by closing their windows.