Alarm raised over infrastructure and environmental risks at huge Sasolburg housing project

The Metsimaholo Local Municipality’s ambitious Wonderfontein development near Sasolburg in the Free State promises thousands of much-needed homes in a region where there is a housing backlog of more than 19,000.

However, questions are mounting over whether essential infrastructure and environmental safeguards are in place to support this vast expansion, and a legal challenge led by AfriForum and landowners is headed for the Free State Division of the High Court in Bloemfontein in October.

Officials insist the development is being rolled out in phases, with strict conditions that must be met before anyone moves in.

A plan that ballooned

Wonderfontein has been on Metsimaholo’s books for more than a decade. In 2010, the municipality proposed that the project consist of about 3,000 stands. By 2018, the plan had swelled to 8,000 stands, enough for 30,000 to 35,000 people.

The expansion alarmed residents and triggered opposition during the public participation process, leading to its referral to the Municipal Planning Tribunal (MPT). In October 2019, the tribunal approved the project, but imposed strict pre-proclamation conditions. These included:

• Updating traffic impact studies, as the development is along a busy road on which many accidents occur, some fatal.
• Providing proper engineering services: roads, stormwater drainage, sewerage, water supply and electricity.
• Adequate stormwater management to protect provincial roads.
• Compliance with national and provincial authorities (Department of Water Affairs, Environmental Affairs and Rand Water).
• Constructing a new wastewater treatment works.

The community’s acceptance of the project was contingent on these conditions being implemented.

A resident and former Sasol employee, who served on the tribunal alongside municipal officials, Sasol representatives and other residents, said one of the conditions was the construction of a new wastewater treatment works.

When the development was first proposed in 2010, the plan was to use Sasol’s existing wastewater treatment plant, which at the time could handle the extra demand. But as the project expanded, it became clear that the plant’s capacity was insufficient. Sasol told the then Free State premier, Ace Magashule, that a new facility would be needed at a cost of R1.2-billion. The government later said it would take responsibility for building the plant

For several years, not much happened. Then, in 2023, activity on the site resumed. That’s when AfriForum began demanding proof that the 2019 conditions were being observed.

“We’ve seen no official plan addressing where the sewage will go,” said Jaco Grobbelaar, AfriForum’s central district head, who lives in Sasolburg. “We have been met with silence, no solid answers, and no transparency on fundamental questions concerning infrastructure and environment.”

Who is this housing project for? 

The municipality said the Sasolburg Extensions (Wonderfontein) project is a flagship, integrated, mixed-use development designed to create about 8,000 housing opportunities. These will range from single residential stands to community residential units and bonded housing.

The municipality will act as an infill between Sasolburg and Vanderbijlpark, supporting spatial transformation, and it will promote socioeconomic integration.

It said the project forms part of efforts to address a housing backlog of 19,652 applications in the area recorded on the National Housing Needs Register in January 2025: 14,691 in Sasolburg, 3,656 in Deneysville, and 1,305 in Oranjeville.

The municipality said the township was designed as a mixed-income, mixed-use development, incorporating facilities such as crèches, schools, businesses and churches, which it said would foster social inclusion, economic diversity and sustainable communities.

However, moving residents into new housing before essential infrastructure is in place — including wastewater treatment works and safe, well-maintained roads and infrastructure —  could put communities at risk.

AfriForum’s objections

AfriForum is seeking to halt the project until the tribunal’s conditions are met. Its objections focus on two issues: lack of proof that bulk infrastructure is in place and the exemption from compliance deadlines granted under South Africa’s Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (Spluma).

In late 2024, the Free State Department of Human Settlements requested an exemption from Spluma deadlines, citing Wonderfontein’s designation as a Provincial Catalytic Project. In March 2025, Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development Mzwanele Nyhontso granted the department a five-year extension.

AfriForum argues that the exemption undermines legal certainty and community rights. “We’re asking the court to overturn that exemption because it was granted without sufficient basis and isn’t in the community’s interest,” said Grobbelaar.

Nyhontso’s office declined to comment, citing the pending court case.

Where’s the wastewater treatment works?

According to the tribunal’s 2019 conditions, a wastewater treatment works must be designed and constructed before the township’s proclamation, yet there are concerns from AfriForum and residents that this has not been done.

Municipal spokesperson Dr Gino Alberts said, “To avoid delaying the much-needed housing opportunities, the developer has been formally instructed to construct an interim on-site wastewater treatment package plant.”

This, he said, would treat effluent to the required standards until a permanent facility was built.

Judy Johnston, a town planner and environmental impact assessment specialist at Seaton Environmental, said that this sounded like a council cop-out.

“Who will run it, maintain it, clean it, fix it, when it leaks, overflows, etc?” she asked.

She noted that once the developer sells the last stand, responsibility for maintaining a package plant often falls to no one.

“Long term, there are indeed looming environmental disasters.”

Roads and traffic safety

Another flashpoint is the R59 intersection, a heavily congested access point near the development.

“If 30,000 more people move in without upgrading the roads, the accidents and fatalities will escalate dramatically,” warned Grobbelaar.

Dr Chris van Niekerk, who has lived adjacent to the site for 56 years, highlighted road hazards in his objection letter: inadequate signage, poor maintenance and minimal law enforcement. He said the tribunal’s directive that no development may proceed until bulk infrastructure is in place had not been met.

“The tribunal said no development might take place until all the gross infrastructure is in place — stormwater, sewerage, electricity, water, roads… None of those provisions has been complied with,” said Van Niekerk.

The municipality said a comprehensive Traffic Impact Assessment was reviewed by the tribunal, and road upgrades would be implemented in phases. Municipal engineers will inspect each phase before sign-off.

“Each phase undergoes a practical handover site inspection, where municipal engineers inspect, test, and verify compliance,” said Alberts.

“Final acceptance will only occur once the director of engineering services is satisfied that all installations meet municipal and statutory standards. This process ensures residents will receive reliable, safe and sustainable services once the development is occupied.”

Water channelled off-site 

As excavation and earthworks progress at the Wonderfontein site, a significant amount of groundwater has surfaced, forming visible pools. Such groundwater emergence is common when digging below the natural water table, but the volume seen, especially during winter (not the rainy season), is notably high.