ACDP MPL Marie Sukers is set to conduct an oversight visit to Magareng Local Municipality on Wednesday in an effort to address the water woes that have been dragging on for three months.
AFRICAN Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) Member of Parliament Marie Sukers is set to conduct an oversight visit to Magareng Local Municipality on Wednesday in an effort to address the long-standing water woes that have been dragging on for three months.
This is after repairs on the Warrenton water pipeline reportedly came to a standstill due to non-payment of the subcontractor.
Local residents have been without a proper supply of water since February and have to cross the busy N12 road with buckets to fetch water in town.
Sukers and her delegation met with activists and disgruntled community leaders from Warrenton in Kimberley on Monday to map the way forward ahead of Wednesday’s visit to Warrenton.
Warrenton residents had reached out to the ACDP office in Kimberley after the breakdown of engagements with Magareng Municipality.
Residents took part in protest action in March, where they dumped trash at the Magareng municipal offices to voice their anger and frustration over the town’s dry taps.
Several community leaders were interdicted by the municipality and are set to make their second court appearance before the local magistrate’s court on July 7.
The engagements between the residents and the ACDP reportedly started three weeks ago.
The Warrenton residents highlighted how they feel “forgotten” because they have been without a water supply for such a long time.
They added that they have been further frustrated by the fact that they are now unable to raise their concerns with the municipality due to being interdicted.
Sukers pointed out that the municipal water supply issue was already unacceptable before the Vaal River floods, which worsened the situation by damaging the main water pipeline.
She raised concerns about the construction of a R15 million permanent water pipeline, which, she said, looks like a “disaster waiting to happen”.
Sukers said Warrenton residents also lamented the interim emergency water supply plan, earmarked to cost around R800,000, of which some R654,000 has already been spent, labelling it as “ineffective”.
She accused the municipality of a lack of planning and disaster management.
“The work to do repairs on the infrastructure has been delayed by inefficient planning and organising. According to the community, a contractor was appointed but stopped working a week ago, despite promises made to the residents that they would have water within 14 days,” said Sukers.
“Disabled and vulnerable people are still without water and are far away from the JoJo tanks that the municipality made available.”
According to Sukers, the situation has been made worse by the municipality’s R100 million debt owed to Eskom, which causes interruptions in the water supply to residents in the township.
“Some residents allege that only homes that have a favourable political affiliation to those in charge at the municipality would get water. Further to this, residents claim that corruption and maladministration are adding to the frustrations they already experience with the non-supply of water and sanitation.
“Apart from the serious concerns about people being able to access the water points and water being allocated to homes by way of political affiliation, the lack of disaster risk management strategy implementation and issues around the emergency water supply are forcing people in Warrenton to live in inhumane conditions,” said Sukers.
“We are questioning the procurement process at the municipality including the contract management and the appointment of contractors that do not have the capacity to deliver … We also question the poor functionality at the municipality, where there is an acting municipal manager and chief financial officer (CFO), the R100 million debt to Eskom and the failure of a contingency plan for disaster management.”
Sukers said the issue of service delivery was being ignored until it becomes a crisis that violates the basic rights of the people.
“Because of the load shedding that we have in the country, the exacerbation of municipal issues grows and it becomes normal for a non-functional municipality. We have reached a stage where it becomes the norm to move from non-functional into a crisis that exasperates and becomes a humanitarian crisis.
“In this case, we have residents crossing a national road in darkness to go and look for water at a JoJo tank that is kilometres away from their homes.
“The ACDP is in the process of requesting the environmental and social impact reports from the departments of Water and Sanitation and Cogta, for the assessments that were conducted for the construction of the main water pipeline – based on the community’s concerns.
“Our immediate priority as the ACDP, however, is to step in and ensure that water is supplied to all residents in Warrenton and not just to some who are affiliated favourably with a certain political party.”
