The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is investigating a complaint relating to Knysna residents allegedly being subjected to drinking contaminated water after a corpse was found in the local reservoir.
The corpse was found in the Khayalethu reservoir in November last year when municipal personnel noticed the body floating in the water and alerted authorities.
SAHRC commissioner Chris Nissen confirmed that a commissioner was deployed to the Knysna area two weeks ago and received the complaint among other issues related to the community.
“We are investigating this matter as it is inhumane. We will be conducting a full investigation,” said Nissen.
Knysna Municipality said they would respond to questions in due course.
This comes after DA local government spokesperson Isaac Sileku said they had reported the matter to the SAHRC.
“(The municipalities) failure to prevent such an occurrence is a clear breach of their duty. Not only has this led to the arduous and costly task of cleaning and blasting all water pipes with dry ice, but it has also endangered the lives of residents who unknowingly consumed contaminated water “By failing to provide clean and safe drinking water, the municipality has egregiously violated the fundamental human rights of Knysna residents.
“We urgently call upon the SAHRC to launch a comprehensive investigation into the actions of the municipality and hold them accountable for their disregard for the well-being and rights of the community,” said Sileku.
Resident Ralph Stander said while they welcomed the investigation by the SAHRC, he was uninterested in “cheap politics”.
“We welcome their investigations and we have put several issues to them with their visit to the community a few weeks ago.
“We have raised a number of issues with the newly appointed commissioner who is a fellow Knysna resident – which we take great pride in. We do not want these issues to be used for cheap politics when it comes to people’s lives and community issues.
“What should be highlighted is that there are two contractors which are paid millions of rand and the issue of a body being found in the reservoir happened under their watch.
“We definitely want the municipality to account for how that could have happened,” said Stander.
The Knysna community has been plagued by a number of issues, including a financial crisis which has impacted basic service delivery.
In an attempt to urgently assist the cash-strapped municipality, its council recently approved a diagnostic report and support plan presented to it by the provincial government.
The approval comes after the municipality had previously declined two support offers in 2018 and 2020.
The report details various departments that need intervention, including financial management, waste management, information and communications technology as well as infrastructure and service delivery.
Cape Times