The Democratic Alliance (DA) has lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission in Bloemfontein on the disaster relief efforts in QwaQwa where 240 000 people have no reliable and safe supply of water.
In terms of the Regulations issued by the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry in 2001, every person must receive 25 litres of water per day. This was confirmed by the Constitutional Court in 2009. It is the responsibility of municipalities to ensure that people have access to this water.
Provincial and National government also have a responsibility to ensure that municipalities implement this regulation, and ensure that the human rights of residents are respected.
Despite the promises by the Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, during her visit to QwaQwa on 24 January 2020, the municipality is still not able to ensure 25 litres per person per day. The water tankers are still totally insufficient, and the available water cannot be pumped into tankers due to the inadequate capacity of water treatment plants. Some areas are without any water for 10 days at a time. It is estimated that people are currently receiving just over 5 litres of water per day.
While this humanitarian crisis calls for a massive ‘whole of government’ military-style operation, we see total confusion as schedules are not being followed often leaving communities waterless. Political interference in deliveries, sabotage of DWS tankers, and load shedding that constrains pumping capacity are further complicating this issue.
The DA is extremely concerned about the residents of QwaQwa in the face of this government mismanagement and incompetence. We also fear that certain connected individuals are positioning themselves to benefit from this crisis, as happened during the water crisis of 2015. Those events prompted the DA to lodge a complaint with the Public Protector in November 2019.
We trust that the SAHRC will intervene in this constitutional humanitarian crisis to ensure that Maluti-a-Phofung municipality and other government departments carry out their responsibilities in this crisis seriously through measures such as effective management and logistical systems.
The DA will continue to monitor the daily deliveries of water to the QwaQwa community, and will not be silenced when the prescripts of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are being violated by an uncaring and incompetent government.