Matlosana kept failing to stop sewage spills, violating residents' rights, South Africa's Human Rights Commission found, while its main treatment works sits broken and pouring sewage toward the Vaal

In a North West service-delivery investigative report dated November 2025, the South African Human Rights Commission substantiated complaints of chronic sewage spillages in Orkney and Alabama and found that the City of Matlosana, having failed to address them sustainably, violated residents' rights to dignity and to an environment not harmful to health, and failed its duties under section 152 of the Constitution and section 28 of the National Environmental Management Act; it noted a January 2023 court order had already found the municipality's sewage failures violated residents' rights. The Commission directed Matlosana to attend to spills within 24 hours and submit a costed upgrade and remediation plan within 90 days.