Forgotten South African town collapsed for all to see

 ·26 Jan 2025

The small agricultural town of Coligny faces widespread water, electricity, and sanitation failures, making day-to-day living an increasingly difficult battle for residents.

Coligny, located in the North West along the railway line between Johannesburg and Lichtenburg, is best described as a rustic small town with a strong sense of community.

Originally named Treurfontein, the town was renamed in 1923 to honour Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligny, who died in the Massacre of St Bartholomew in 1572.

It is located in a large maize farming area and continues to be a significant agricultural town, serving the surrounding farming community.

The grain silo near the station was the first grain silo built in the North West province and is a fitting reminder that maize is now the most important product emanating from this area.

Besides farming, there have been a few times when diamond mining has taken place in the region.

It falls part of the Ditsobotla Local Municipality (DLM), which was established through the amalgamation of the former Lichtenburg, Coligny, and Biesiesvlei Transitional Councils.

However, like Lichtenburg and other neighbouring towns, residents and businesses have desperately pleaded for service delivery as taps run dry, lights remain out, and sewage runs in the streets.

BusinessTech travelled to the town to see their challenges first hand and talk to the people living and operating in Coligny.

With service delivery protests blocking entrances to the town mere days before we arrived, the troubles were instantly apparent.

What one sees when coming via the R503 from Lichtenburg.

Water woes

The Blue Drop score from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is a performance indicator of water supply systems’ capacity, compliance, and good practice.

Ditsobotla, which includes Lichtenburg and Coligny, has a 2023 Blue Drop score of 35.43%, considered “poor”.

The No Drop Report assesses water demand management and water use efficiency, designed to improve service delivery and water security while reducing water losses and non-revenue water.

The Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality, which the Ditsobotla LM falls part of, got 0%, with anything under 30% being critical.

According to these DWS reports, Ditsobotla is facing significant challenges in its water and sanitation management systems.

There is a declining performance and poor infrastructure due to a lack of investment in repairs, maintenance and upgrades.

One elderly resident told us that her area has been without water for 5 years, meaning she has had to push around heavy wheelbarrows of water for around 1,825 consecutive days.

Stanley Mnyakama, the principal at G.R. Setsetse Primary School, which has over 1,300 students, said that they most often need assistance because there is no water.

When asked if assistance comes from the local government, the principal laughed and said, “The municipality is long dead.”

He explained that while a severely unstable electricity supply is tough, the lack of water in the town is a serious crisis at the school, consistently putting children at risk.

Because of the situation, the school’s toilets very often become unsanitary, lacking water to flush, leading to terrible odours and health risks.

Students have no drinking water, cannot wash their hands, and are sometimes sent home early due to water shortages.

Of the 23 boreholes in the area, only five are working and those are only semi-functional.

People pushing wheelbarrows and carts around town to get water is a common sight.
Residents getting water in front of an abandoned shopping strip.

Electricity

Electrical infrastructure is also in dire straits, with aged and unmaintained infrastructure clearly visible.

Community members have said that power outages often last days at a time, and they even have to buy their own electrical supplies for repairs.

Community activist turned ward councilor Cobus van Tonder said that “if you’ve got a problem with a break on your electrical side name, on your pole at your house, you must buy it. They don’t supply it.”

The municipality is one of the largest Eskom debtors. According to Ditsobotla’s 2024/25 funding plan, it owes the power utility more than R1 billion.

On 22 January 2025, North West Premier Lazarus Mokgosi persuaded the Ditsobotla Council to agree and allow Eskom to take over the electricity supply function.

The municipality does not have the financial capacity and the necessary skills to handle provision of electricity,” said the Premier.

Roads in tatters

The roads of the town are in poor condition, with many of them requiring a driver to go on the pavement.

The community has had to fix gravel roads themselves, but these prove temporary fixes.

There are issues with the grader that is supposed to be used to fix the roads because the municipality said that it lacks engine oil.

Sanitation issues

Many drains are overflowing in Coligny due to a lack of infrastructure upgrades.

DWS’ Green Drop report, which is a regulatory tool used to assess and monitor the performance of wastewater management in South Africa notes that the area has many wastewater systems in a critical state, giving them a score of 97.4%. Anything over 90% is considered “critical.”

A different primary school, where some have resorted to going around the back of the building to urinate and defecate as the toilets do not work. Pieces of toilet paper can be seen.

Community action

Community efforts have stepped in where the municipality has failed, with locals funding repairs, delivering water, cleaning areas, and fixing infrastructure themselves.

However, locals have said that despite this, the municipality “remains inactive”, not providing necessary materials, services, or communication.

Premier tongue lashing

Just after BusinessTech left the town, North West Premier Lazarus Mokgosi went to the Ditsobotla council, and did not hold back his thoughts.

He said that if his executive had exhausted all options to no avail, they would have to put the municipality under provincial administration—a situation it has been in countless times before.

“The environment here is toxic and there is no cooperation. We have deployed people here and they are not given a necessary space to do their work,” said Mokgosi.

The Director of the Centre for Good Governance and Social Justice, Boyce Mpempe, said: “Stealing from the poor and self-enrichment is a challenge, hence the current situation at Ditsobotla. Those who are elected do not care about the poorest of the poor, but their own needs.”

No response but troubled finances

The municipality did not respond directly to questions posed by BusinessTech. Comment will be added if received.

However, according to council minutes and other reports, budget constraints, non-payment of services, and vandalism are often cited as key reasons why infrastructure cannot be adequately maintained.

According to the 2024/25 financial plan published at the end of October 2024, even if Ditsobotla were to receive a 100% collection rate on rates and levies in the current financial year, which is highly unlikely, the municipality would still sit with a deficit of R171 million.

It is important to note that this projection was made before the decision to hand the function of supplying electricity over to Eskom, which could impact revenue collection.

Sheep and goats filling in for job of refuse removal
Burning trash by the playground on the property of a primary school.

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