Businesses forced to shut down in South African municipality where sewage runs in the streets

Consistent governance failures and issues of service delivery in the Emfuleni Municipality have forced many local businesses to close their doors.

EWN reported that since the beginning of 2026, an average of 36 businesses in the area have gone into liquidation every single month.

The ones that are left continue to navigate challenges around water shortages, unreliable electricity supply, and municipal waste and sewage piling up.

Vaal Business Cooperation CEO Klippies Kritzinger said many business owners in the area have had to resort to alternative energy solutions to keep their businesses afloat.

“That’s the unfortunate reality of business in the Vaal,” Kritzinger said. ”That’s why there is no employment, there’s deployment. People are losing jobs on a daily basis.”

“Related to that is the crime level. Crime levels are skyrocketing. Cable theft, break-ins, anything. People are willing to do things that they would normally not do.”

Kritzinger said the responsibility for this rested solely on Emfuleni’s governing officials, who still receive salaries and bonuses while municipal infrastructure continues to degrade.

R24 million has reportedly been paid to 22 suspended Emfuleni officials who remain at home, with one accountant earning nearly R6 million since their suspension in 2019.

Cindy Niblett, owner of local toilet paper manufacturer Freedom Paper, said electricity issues had brought her business close to shutting down as well.

Niblett explained that the installation of a solar energy system allowed the business to continue its operations, albeit at an extremely high capital cost.

“This year alone, we faced at least two weeks with no electricity,” Niblett said. “We were able to sustain it because we had solar. We implemented quite a large solar system last year. Fortunately for us, it worked.”

“We operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so we have to work around the challenges. When we had load-shedding, it obviously became challenging for everybody. We didn’t have solar at that point in time.”

Niblett said her biggest concern was for her employees, who live in areas where roads are falling apart, and sewage water constantly leaks into homes.

Residents suffer while officials turn a blind eye

The Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) recently revealed that Emfuleni had spent over R700 million in overtime pay for municipal workers over the past six years.

While this is claimed to be for cleaning and environmental services, residents of Emfuleni said there has been no visible evidence of any work being done in this regard.

News24 reported that the municipality had spent R15.7 million in overtime pay for refuse removal services between February and March 2026 alone.

Municipal employees in Emfuleni said they had not received any of this overtime pay, however, describing it as a “scam” and saying no work had been done.

Municipal spokesperson Makhosonke Sangweni said there was no evidence behind COGTA’s finding, and called News24’s reporting a political attack on the municipality.

DA mayoral candidate Kingsol Chabalala called for an immediate investigation into the authorisation of these overtime payments.

Some business owners, like Niblett, said they are being especially cautious about speaking out against the municipality for fear of their lives.

On 30 March, Emfuleni finance official Martha Rantsofu was killed in a suspected assassination over alleged whistleblowing of corruption taking place in the municipality.

While the murder was escalated to the South African Police Service’s Political Killings Task Team, no arrests have been made thus far.

“It seems to be if you say anything wrong, you have a gun pointed at your head,” Niblett said. “So we have to be mindful of what we actually say and how loud we become.”

The municipality appeared in front of the Vereeniging Magistrate’s Court on 4 May over multiple charges relating to pollution of the Vaal River through sewage discharge.

Since Emfuleni’s previous court appearance, 66 additional charges have been levied against the municipality, and it is set to return to court on 1 September.

Despite this, COGTA spokesperson Theo Nkonki said the municipality’s issues were not severe enough to warrant placing it under administration.

“What we are doing now, we are happy with what we are seeing,” Nkonki said. “It looks as though something is coming to life, with regard to at least their water and sanitation part.”