Residents are crying for help in this South African border town

 ·23 Jan 2025

Zeerust in the North West is at a crossroads. Failing infrastructure and poor service delivery are leading to a decline in living standards and the town’s economic prospects.

Zeerust, a small commercial town in North West Province, is located in the Marico River Valley near the Botswana border.

The town was founded in 1867 and grew around a church built by Diederik Coetzee, who named it Coetzee-Rust in honour of his late brother, Casper. The name was later shortened to Zeerust.

The Klein-Marico and Kareespruit rivers flow through the area, supporting local irrigation farming. However, they have suffered from pollution for some time now.

Its economy is now primarily driven by mixed farming, lead and chrome mining, and, against service delivery odds, tourism.

Surrounded by tall grasses and majestic trees, Zeerust embodies the essence of a Bushveld town in Southern Africa.

However, service delivery troubles have meant that operating a business and living in the town is increasingly difficult.

This is particularly worrying as it puts even more jobs at risk in a province with an expanded unemployment rate of 51.5%.

There have been numerous service delivery protests, including one where all entry and exit points to the town were blocked, with people proclaiming, “All we want is service delivery.” 

Community leader Pilot Mosothwane said some areas had been without water for up to eight months.

BusinessTech travelled to Zeerust and was immediately confronted with service delivery challenges on the way into the town.

Litter fills the pavement of the entrance to the landfill, which is not restricted to one area.

B&B owner Hennie Pretorius told BusinessTech that he has to go to the landfill himself, as despite paying the rates and levies for it, refuse is most often not collected.

Sewage

When travelling around town, the smell of raw sewage often hits you. It has been reported that the wastewater treatment plant has been malfunctioning, polluting water sources.

Despite millions in investments, the plant can still not treat the sewage the town generates effectively.

This results in untreated effluent being released into the Kareespruit River and Klein Marikou Dam, contaminating the water source.

According to DWS’s Green Drop Report, the municipality was identified to have wastewater treatment systems in a “critical state.”

The RMLM’s Green Drop score was 17%. Anything below 31% is “dysfunctional and unsatisfactory performance, with major corrections to be made (Critical).”

The Regulator advised to issue a Corrective Action Plan and ringfenced grant allocation to the identified systems.

A river with raw sewage flowing over a bridge by a school.

From 2008 to 2009, the RLML spent R3 million on repairs and upgrades of the wastewater treatment plant. Then, the plant was refurbished by Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality (NKDM) for R23 million.

The NKDM made a third attempt to upgrade the facility with a R65 million investment in 2015. However, the upgrade was still inadequate to process the inflow of raw sewage.

According to a 2024 North West provincial COGTA meeting, there is an estimated R295 million project to upgrade the facility from 2.5ML/day to 7ML.

This was “to ensure compliance with effluent quality that is discharged into the Kareespruit River” and was commenced in January 2019.

However, the smell and visible sewage in the streets indicate that it still has a way to go before reaching acceptable levels.

A river Pretorius used to swim in as a kid is now filled with sewage

Imaan Suliman, a DA councillor in the RMLM, said sewer blockages and overflows are still very common.

These incidents, sometimes lasting for months, release raw sewage into residential areas. It poses a significant health hazard to the residents, who often fish in polluted rivers.

It also impacts the lives of businesses, including agricultural businesses dependent on clean water for livestock and crops.

Pretorius said that their business had to install their own septic tanks, as sewage overflows are common.

He added that the issue of sewage has significantly hurt business, with patrons sometimes complaining about the smell. “When you lose a customer, they are likely lost for good,” he said.

Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality councillor Cornel Dreyer said that ageing and inadequate infrastructure exacerbate the problem. He said that Zeerust relies on old systems prone to damage.

A lack of investment in expanding the sewage network has not kept up with the population growth, putting additional strain on the already failing system.

This is also said about electricity infrastructure, which is vulnerable to prolonged faults and power outages when rains occur.

Effluent flowing along a school gate.

The roads

Another issue is the roads, with GPS directing cars through rough terrain.

Potholes and overgrowth are common, posing a significant challenge for residents, tourists and businesses alike to effectively move around town.

Rates and taxes

Like many municipalities nationwide, a significant problem is a dwindling population paying for rates and services.

The municipality relies heavily on self-generated income to pay salaries, but the recovery rate for services has been low.

Compounding this issue is what they describe as “an overinflated municipal structure”, with municipal salaries consuming a large part of the income.

This leaves little funding for essential services and infrastructure development after salaries are paid and new capital projects are signed off.

Waiting on response

BusinessTech reached out to the local government for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Comments will be added if and when received.

More images of service delivery troubles

Pretorius, who was born and raised in Zeerust, said that the decline in the quality of life in the town has been particularly evident over the past several years.

“Everything is just going downwards. We have tried to fight the fight to get services, just the basic things we need, but it just falls on deaf ears,” said Pretorius.

“I grew up here, and we’ve seen what it was, and we see what it is now. It’s heartbreaking,” he added.

The bridge for school children to cross the polluted river that is submerged after rainfall.
Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality Department of Health Office.
Vegetation swallowing up the roads
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